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GIFT  or 

Aancrori 


HISTORY 


DISCOVERY  OF  THE  NORTHWEST 


JOHN  NICOLET 


IlSr    1634r 


SKETCH    OF    HIS    LIFE 


C.    W.    BUTTERFIELD 
\\ 

Author   of    "Crawford's    Campaign    against    Sandusky,"    "History    of    Wisconsi 
In    Historical   Atlas  of  the   State,    "The   Washington-Crawford   Letters," 
"History  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,"  etc. 


CINCINNATI 
ROBERT   CLARKE  &    CO. 

1881 


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32 


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Copyrighted,  18S1, 
By  C.  W.  BUTTERFIELD. 

«FTOF 
BancroTt 
LIBRARY 


PREFACE. 


Ill  the  following  pages,  I  have  attempted  to  record,  in  a 
faithful  manner,  the  indomitable  perseverance  and  heroic 
bravery  displayed  by  John  Nicolet  in  an  exploration  which 
resulted  in  his  being  the  first  of  civilized  men  to  set  foot  upon 
any  portion  of  the  Northwest ;  that  is,  upon  any  part  of  the 
territory  now  constituting  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illi- 
nois, Michigan,  and  Wisconsin.  It  is  shown  how  he  brought 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  world  the  existence  of  a  ''fresh-water 
sea  " — Lake  Michigan — beyond  and  to  the  westward  of  Lake 
Huron;  how  he  visited  a  number  of  Indian  nations  before 
unheard  of;  how  he  penetrated  many  leagues  beyond  the  ut- 
most verge  of  previous  discoveries,  with  an  almost  reckless 
fortitude,  to  bind  distant  tribes  to  French  interests ;  and  how 
he  sought  to  find  an  ocean,  which,  it  was  believed,  was  not  a 
great  distance  westward  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  which 
would  prove  a  near  route  to  China  and  Japan. 

The  principal  sources  from  which  I  have  drawn,  in  my  in- 
vestigations concerning  the  life  and  explorations  of  Nicolet, 
are  the  Jesuit  Relations.  So  nearly  contemporaneous  are  these 
publications  with  his  discoveries — especially  those  which  con- 
tain a  record  of  them — and  so  trustworthy  are  they  in  their 
recital  of  facts  connected  therewith,  that  their  value,  in  this 
connection,  can  hardly  be  over-estimated.     Each  one  of  the 

(iii) 

861310 


IV  PREFACE. 

series  having  a  particular  bearing  upon  the  subject  of  this 
narrative  has  been  studied  with  a  care  commensurate  with  its 
importance.  Other  accounts  of  the  same  period,  as  well  as 
of  a  somewhat  later  date,  together  with  the  researches  of 
modern  writers,  concerning  the  daring  Frenchman,  whose  name 
stands  first  on  the  list  of  the  explorers  of  the  Northwest, 
have,  likewise,  been  carefully  examined,  the  object  being,  if 
not  to  exhaust  all  known  sources  of  information  illustrative 
of  these  discoveries,  at  least  to  profit  by  them.  Aid  has  been 
received,  in  addition,  from  several  living  authors,  especially 
from  Benjamin  Suite,  Esq.,  of  Ottawa,  Canada,  to  whom, 
and  to  all  others  who  have  extended  a  helping  hand,  I  return 
my  sincere  thanks. 

a  ^y,  b. 

Madison,  Wisconsin,  1881. 


CO]>TTEISrTS, 


INTRODUCTION. 

PAGE. 

Prehistoric  Man  in  the  Northwest — The  Red  Race — First 

Discoveries  in  New  France, 7 

CHAPTER  I. 
Events  Leading  to  Western  Exploration, 11 

CHAPTER  11. 
John  Nicolet,  the  Explorer 26 

CHAPTER  III. 
Nicolet  Discovers  the  Northwest, 35 

CHAPTER   IV. 
Subsequent  Career  and  Death  of  Nicolet, 75 

Appendix,        93 

Index, 107 

(V) 


INTRODUCTION. 

PRE-HISTORIC  MAN  IN  THE   NORTHWEST — THE   RED   RACE — 
FIRST  DISCOVERIES  IN  NEW  FRANCE. 

Of  the  existence,  in  what  are  now  the  States  of 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin,  at 
a  remote  period,  of  a  race  superior  in  intelligence  to  the 
red  men  who  inhabited  this  region  when  first  seen  by 
a  European,  there  are  indubitable  evidences.  Who 
were  these  ancient  occupiers  of  the  territory  just 
mentioned — of  its  prairies  and  woodlands,  hills  and 
valleys?  There  are  no  traditions  of  their  power,  of 
their  labor,  or  of  their  wisdom — no  record  of  their 
having  lived,  except  in  rapidly-decaying  relics.  They 
left  no  descendants  to  recount  their  daring  deeds. 
All  that  remain  of  them — the  so-called  Mound-Build- 
ers— are  mouldering  skeletons.  All  that  are  to  be 
seen  of  their  handicraft  are  perishing  earth-works  and 
rude  implements.  These  sum  up  the  "  types  and 
shadows"  of  the  pre-historic  age. 

There  is  nothing  to  connect  "the  dark  backward 
and  abysm  "  of  mound-building  times  with  those  of 
the  red  race  of  the  Northwest ;  and  all  that  is  known 
of  the  latter  dating  earlier  than  their  first  discovery, 
is  exceedingly  dim  and  shadowy.  Upon  the  extended 
area  bounded  by  Lake  Superior  on  the  north.  Lake 
Michigan  on  the  east,  wide-spreading  prairies  on  the 
south,  and  the  Mississippi  river  on  the  west,  there  met 

(vii) 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION. 

and  mlDgled  two  distinct  Indian  families — -Algonquins 
and  Dakotas.  Concerning  the  various  tribes  of  these 
families,  nothing  of  importance  could  be  gleaned  by 
the  earliest  explorers ;  at  least,  very  little  has  been 
preserved.  Tradition,  it  is  true,  pointed  to  the  Algon- 
quins as  having,  at  some  remote  period,  migrated  from 
the  east;  and  this  has  been  confirmed  by  a  study  of 
their  language.  It  indicated,  also,  that  the  Dakotas, 
at  a  time  far  beyond  the  memory  of  the  most  aged, 
came  from  the  west  or  southwest — fighting  their  way 
as  they  came;  that  one  of  their  tribes^  once  dwelt 
upon  the  shores  of  a  sea;  but  when  and  for  what 
purpose  they  left  their  home  none  could  relate. 

The  residue  of  the  ;N"orthwest  was  the  dwelling- 
place  of  Algonquins  alone.  In  reality,  therefore, 
"  the  territory  northwest  of  the  river  Oliio  "  has  no 
veritable  history  ante-dating  the  period  of  its  first  dis- 
covery by  civilized  man.  Portions  of  the  country  had 
been  heard  of,  it  is  true,  but  only  through  vague  re- 
ports of  savages.  There  were  no  accounts  at  all,  be- 
sides these,  of  the  extensive  region  of  the  upper  lakes 
or  of  the  valley  of  the  Upper  Mississippi ;  while  noth- 
ing whatever  was  known  of  the  Ohio  or  of  parts  ad- 
jacent. 

The  first  of  the  discoveries  in  the  ITew  World  after 
that  of  Columbus,  in  1492,  having  an  immediate 
bearing  upon  this  narrative,  was  that  of  John  Cabot, 
in  1497.  On  the  third  of  July,  of  that  year,  he  saw 
what  is  now  believed  to  have  been  the  coast  of  La- 
brador. After  sailing  a  short  distance  south,  he  prol)- 
ably  discovered  the  island  of  !N'evvfoundland.     In  1498, 

*  Ancestors  of  the  present  Winnebagoes. 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

his  son,  Sebastian,  explored  the  continent  from  Labra- 
dor to  Virginia,  and  possibly  as  far  south  as  Florida. 
Gaspar  Cortereal,  in  1500,  reached  the  shore  seen  by 
John  Cabot,  and  explored  it  several  hundred  miles. 
He  was  followed,  in  1524,  by  John  Yerrazzano,  who 
discovered  the  l^orth.  American  coast  in,  probably,  the 
latitude  of  what  is  now  Wilmington,  lN"orth  Carolina. 
He  continued  his  exploration  to  the  northward  as  far 
as  Newfoundland.  To  the  region  visited  by  liim,  he 
gave  the  name  of  'New  France.  The  attention  of  the 
reader  is  now  directed  to  some  of  the  most  important 
events,  in  the  country  thus  named,  which  followed,  for 
a  period  of  a  hundred  and  ten  years,  the  voyage  of 
Yerrazzano. 


H  I  S  T  O  R  Y 

OF   THE 

DISCOVERY  OF  THE  NORTHWEST. 


CHAPTER  I. 


EVENTS   LEADING    TO    WESTERN    EXPLORATION. 

The  discovery  of  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  and  of  the 
great  lakes  which  pour  their  superabundant  waters 
through  it  into  the  gulf,  was  not  the  least  in  import- 
ance of  the  events  which  signalized  the  opening  of  the 
history  of  the  New  World.  The  credit  of  having  first 
spread  a  sail  upon  the  majestic  stream  of  Canada,  and 
of  obtaining  such  information  as  afterward  led  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  Avhole  of  its  valley,  belongs  to  James 
Cartier,  a  native  of  St.  Malo — a  port  in  the  north  of 
France.  Cartier  was  a  skillful  mariner.  On  the 
twentieth  of  April,  1534,  he  sailed  from  his  native 
place,  under  orders  of  the  French  admiral,  for  the 
coast  of  [N'ewfoundland,  intent  on  exploring  unknown 
seas,  and  countries  washed  by  them.  He  took  with 
him  two  ships  of  fifty  tons  each,  and  in  twenty  days 
saw  the  large  island  lying  between  the  ocean  and  the 
river  he  was  soon  to  discover.  Favorable  winds  had 
wafted  him  and  his  hundred  and  twenty-two  sailors 

(11) 


12  DISCOVERY   OP    THE   NORTHAVEST. 

and  adventurers  to  inhospitable  shores,  but  at  an 
^uspicious  seasoii  of  the  year. 

Having  sailed  nearly  around  Newfoundland,  Cartier 
tliti^rt^cl  to  the  south,  iuid,  crossing  the  gulf,  entered  a 
bay,  which  he  nam6d  Des  Chaleurs,  because  of  the 
midsummer  heats.  A  little  farther  north  he  landed 
and  took  possession  of  the  country  in  the  name  of  the 
French  king.  His  vessels  were  now  at  anchor  in  the 
smaller  inlet  of  Gaspe.  Sailing  still  further  north.  Car- 
tier,  in  August,  discovered  the  river  St.  Lawrence.  He 
moved  up  its  channel  until  land  w^as  sighted  on  either 
side;  then,  being  unprepared  to  remain  through  the 
winter,  he  sailed  back  again  to  the  gulf,  crossed  the 
ocean,  and  moored  his  vessels  in  safety  in  St.  Malo. 
He  made  the  return  voyage  in  less  than  thirty  days. 
This  was,  at  that  period,  an  astonishing  achievement. 
The  success  of  the  expedition  tilled  the  whole  of 
France  with  w^onder.  In  less  than  five  months,  the 
Atlantic  had  been  crossed;  a  large  river  discovered; 
a  new  country  added  to  the  dominions  of  France  ;  and 
the  ocean  recrossed.  All  this  had  been  accomplished 
before  it  was  generally  known  that  an  expedition  had 
been  undertaken. 

The  remarkable  pleasantness  of  this  summer's  voy- 
age, the  narratives  of  Cartier  and  his  companions,  and 
the  importance  attached  to  their  discoveries,  aroused 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  French  ;  and,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected, a  new  expedition  was  planned.  Three  well- 
furnished  ships  were  provided  by  the  king.  Even 
some  of  the  nobility  volunteered  for  the  voyage.  All 
were  eager  to  cross  the  Atlantic.  On  the  nineteenth 
of  May,  1535,  the  squadron  sailed.  But  Cartier  had 
not,  this   time,   a   pleasant  summer   cruise.     Storms 


EVENTS   LEADING   TO    WESTERN   EXPLORATION.  13 

raged.  The  sliips  separated.  For  seven  weeks  they 
buffeted  the  troubled  ocean.  Their  rendezvous  was 
the  Straits  of  Belle  Isle,  which  they  finally  reached ; 
but  the  omens  were  bad.  The  adventurers  had  con- 
fidently looked  for  pleasant  gales  and  a  quick  voyage, 
and  these  expectations  had  all  been  blasted.  Now, 
however,  they  arrived  within  sight  of  Newfoundland, 
and  their  spirits  rose.  Carried  to  the  west  of  that 
island,  on  the  day  of  Saint  Lawrence,  they  gave  the 
name  of  that  martyr  to  a  portion  of  the  gulf  which 
opened  before  them.  The  name  was  afterward  given 
to  the  whole  of  that  body  of  water  and  to  the  river  Car- 
tier  had  previously  discovered.  Sailing  to  the  north 
of  Anticosti,  they  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence,  reach- 
ing, in  September,  a  fine  harbor  in  an  island  since 
called  Orleans. 

Leaving  his  two  largest  ships  in  the  waters  of  the 
river  now  known  as  the  St.  Charles,  Cartier,  with  the 
smallest  and  two  open  boats,  ascended  the  St.  Law- 
rence until  a  considerable  Indian  village  w^as  reached, 
situated  on  an  island  called  Ilochelaga.  Standing 
upon  the  summit  of  a  hill,  on  this  island,  and  looking 
away  up  the  river,  the  commander  had  fond  imagin- 
ings of  future  glory  awaiting  his  countrymen  in  colo- 
nizing this  region.  "  He  called  the  hill  Mont-Real, 
and  time,  that  has  transferred  the  name  of  the  island, 
is  realizing  his  visions;"  for  on  that  islaiid  now  stands 
the  city  of  Montreal.  While  at  Hochelaga,  Cartier 
gathered  some  indistinct  accounts  of  the  surround- 
ing country,  and  of  the  river  Ottawa  coming  down 
from  the  hills  of  the  Northwest.  Rejoining  his  ships, 
he  spent  the  winter  in  a  palisaded  fort  on  the  bank  of 
the    St.  Charles,  with  his  vessels  moored   before   it. 


14  DISCOVERY   OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

The  cold  was  intense.  Many  of  his  men  died  of 
scurvy.  Early  in  the  spring,  possession  was  again 
taken  of  the  country  in  the  name  of  the  French 
king;  and,  on  the  sixteenth  of  July,  1536,  the  Bre- 
ton mariner  dropped  anchor  in  St.  Malo — he  having 
returned  in  two  ships  ;  the  other  was  abandoned,  and 
three  hundred  and  twelve  years  after  was  discovered 
imbedded  in  mud.  France  was  disappointed.  Hopes 
had  been  raised  too  high.  Expectations  had  not  been 
realized.  Further  explorations,  therefore,  were,  for 
the  time,  postponed. 

Notwithstanding  the  failure  of  Cartier's  second 
voyage,  the  great  valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence  was  not 
to  remain  very  long  unknown  to  the  world,  in  any  of 
its  parts.  It  w^as  thought  unworthy  a  gallant  nation 
to  abandon  the  enterprise;  and  one  more  trial  at  ex- 
ploration and  colonization  was  determined  upon. 
Again  the  bold  mariner  of  St.  Malo  started  for  the  St. 
Lawrence.  This  was  on  the  twenty-third  of  May, 
1541.  He  took  with  him  five  ships ;  but  he  went, 
unfortunately,  as  subordinate,  in  some  respects,  to 
John  Francis  de  la  Roque,  Lord  of  Roberval,  a  noble- 
man of  Picardy,  whom  the  king  of  France  had  ap- 
pointed viceroy  of  the  country  now  again  to  be  vis- 
ited. The  object  of  the  enterprise  was  declared  to  be 
discovery,  settlement,  and  the  conversion  of  the  In- 
dians. Cartier  was  the  first  to  sail.  Again  he  en- 
tered the  St.  Lawrence. 

After  erecting  a  fort  near  the  site  of  the  present 
city  of  Quebec,  Cartier  ascended  the  river  in  two  boats 
to  explore  the  rapids  above  the  island  of  Hochelaga. 
He  then  returned  and  passed  the  winter  at  his  fort ; 
and,  in  the  spring,  not  having  heard  from  the  viceroy, 


EVENTS  LEADING  TO  WESTEr.N  EXPLORATION.    15 

he  set  sail  for  France.  In  June,  1542,  in  the  harbor 
of  St.  John,  he  met  the  Lord  of  Roberval,  outward 
bound,  with  three  ships  and  two  hundred  men.  The 
viceroy  ordered  Cartier  to  return  to  the  St.  Lawrence  ; 
but  the  mariner  of  St.  Malo  escaped  in  the  night,  and 
continued  his  voyage  homeward.  Hoberval,  although 
abandoned  by  his  subordinate,  once  more  set  sail. 
After  wintering  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  he,  too,  aban- 
doned the  country — giving  back  his  immense  vice- 
royalty  to  the  rightful  owners. 

In  1578,  there  were  three  hundred  and  fifty  fish- 
ing vessels  at  Newfoundland  belonging  to  the  French, 
Spanish,  Portuguese,  and  English;  besides  these  were  a 
number — twenty  or  more — of  Biscayan  whalers.  The 
Marquis  de  la  Roche,  a  Catholic  nobleman  of  Brit- 
tany, encouraged  by  Henry  TV.,  undertook  the  colo- 
nization of  ISTew  France,  in  1598.  But  the  ill-starred 
attempt  resulted  only  in  his  leaving  forty  convicts  to 
their  fate  on  Sable  island,  off  the  coast  of  Nova 
Scotia.  Of  their  number,  twelve  only  were  found 
alive  five  years  subsequent  to  La  Roche's  voyage.  In 
1599,  another  expedition  was  resolved  on.  This  was 
undertaken  by  Pontgrave,  a  merchant  of  St.  Malo,  and 
Chauvin,  a  captain  of  the  marine.  In  consideration 
of  a  monopoly  of  the  fur-trade,  granted  them  by  the 
king  of  France,  these  men  undertook  to  establish  a 
colony  of  five  hundred  persons  in  New  France.  At 
Tadoussac,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Saguenay,  they  built 
a  cluster  of  wooden  huts  and  store-houses,  where  six- 
teen men  were  left  to  gather  furs;  these  either  died 
or  were  scattered  among  the  Indians  before  the  return 
of  the  spring  of  1601.  Chauvin  made  a  second  voy- 
age to  Tadoussac,  but  failed  to  establish  a  permanent 


16  DISCOVERY   OF    THE    NORTHWEST. 

settlement.  During  a  third  voyage  he  died,  and  his 
enterprise  perished  with  him. 

In  1603,  a  company  of  merchants  of  France  was 
formed,  and  Samuel  Champlain,  with  a  small  band 
of  adventurers,  dispatched,  in  two  small  vessels,  to 
make  a  preliminary  survey  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  He 
reached  the  valley  in  safety,  sailed  past  the  lofty 
promontory  on  which  Quebec  now  stands,  and  pro- 
ceeded onward  to  the  island  of  Ilochclaga,  where  his 
vessels  where  anchored.  In  a  skiff,  with  a  few  In- 
dians, Champlain  vainly  endeavored  to  pass  the  rapids 
of  the  great  river.  The  baffled  explorer  returned  to 
his  ships.  From  the  savages,  he  gleaned  some  in- 
formation of  ulterior  regions.  The  natives  drew  for 
him  rude  plans  of  the  river  above,  and  its  lakes  and 
cataracts.  His  curiosity  was  inflamed,  and  he  resolved 
one  day  to  visit  the  country  so  full  of  natural  won- 
ders. Now,  however,  he  was  constrained  to  return 
to  France.  He  had  accomplished  the  objects  of  his 
mission — the  making  of  a  brief  exploration  of  the 
valley  of  the  chief  river  of  Canada. 

It  was  the  opinion  of  Champlain  that  on  the  banks 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  was  the  true  site  of  a  settlement ; 
that  here  a  fortified  post  should  be  erected;  that 
thence,  by  following  up  the  waters  of  the  interior  re- 
gion to  their  sources,  a  Avestern  route  might  be  traced 
to  China,  the  distance  being  estimated  by  him  at  not 
more  than  two  or  three  hundred  leagues;  and  that 
the  fur-trade  of  the  whole  country  might  be  secured 
to  France  by  the  erection  of  a  fort  at  some  point 
commanding  the  river.  These  views,  five  years  sub- 
sequent to  his  visit  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  induced  the 
fitting  out  of  a  second  expedition,  for  trade,  explora- 


EVENTS    LEADING    TO    WESTERN    EXPLORATION.  17 

tion,  and  colonization.  On  the  thirteenth  of  April, 
1608,  Chaniplain  again  sailed — this  time  with  men, 
arms,  and  stores  for  a  colony.  The  fnr-tradc  was  in- 
trusted to  another.  The  month  of  the  Saguenay  was 
reached  in  June  ;  and,  soon  after,  a  settlement  was 
commenced  on  the  brink  of  the  St.  Lawrence — the 
site  of  the  -present  market-place  of  the  lower  town 
of  Quebec.  A  rigorous  winter  and  great  suffering 
followed.  Supplies  arrived  in  the  spring,  and  Cham- 
plain  determined  to  enter  upon  his  long-meditated 
explorations ; — the  only  obstacles  in  the  way  were  the 
savage  nations  he  would  every- where  meet.  He 
would  be  compelled  to  resort  to  diplomacy — to  unite 
a  friendly  tribe  to  his  interests,  and,  thus  strength- 
ened, to  conquer,  by  force  of  arms,  the  hostile  one. 

The  tribes  of  the  Huron s,  who  dwelt  on  the  lake 
which  now  bears  their  name,  and  their  allies,  the  Al- 
gonquins,  upon  the  Ottawa  and  the  St.  Lawrence, 
Champlain  learned,  were  at  war  with  the  Iroquois,  or 
Five  I^ations,  whose  homes  were  within  the  present 
State  of  i^ew  York.  In  June,  1609,  he  advanced, 
with  sixty  Ilurons  and  Algonquins  and  two  white 
men,  up  what  is  now  known  as  the  Richelieu  river  to 
the  discovery  of  the  first  of  the  great  lakes — the  one 
which  now  bears  his  name.  Upon  its  placid  waters, 
this  courageous  band  was  stopped  by  a  war-party  of 
Iroquois.  On  shore,  the  contending  forces  met,  when 
a  few  discharges  of  an  arquebuse  sent  the  advancing 
enemy  in  wild  dismay  back  into  the  forest.  The  vic- 
tory was  complete.  Promptly  Champlain  returned 
to  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  his  allies  to  their  homes, 
not,  however,  until  the  latter  had  invited  the  former 
2 


18  DISCOVERY    OP    THE    NORTHWEST. 

to  visit  tlicir  towns  and  aid  tliem  again  in  their  wars. 
Champlain  then  revisited  France,  but  the  year  1610 
found  him  once  more  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  with  two 
objects  in  view  :  one,  to  j)i'Oceed  northward,  to  ex- 
plore Hudson's  bay ;  the  other,  to  go  westward,  and 
examine  the  great  lakes  and  the  mines  of  copper  on 
their  shores,  of  the  existence  of  which  he  had  just 
been  informed  by  the  savages ;  for  he  was  determined 
he  would  never  cease  his  explorations  until  he  had 
penetrated  to  the  western  sea,  or  that  of  the  north, 
so  as  to  open  the  way  to  China.  Eut,  after  fighting 
a  battle  with  the  Iroquois  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Richelieu,  he  gave  up,  for  the  time,  all  thought  of 
further  exploration,  and  returned  to  France. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  May,  1611,  Champlain  again 
arrived  in  the  St.  Lawrence.  To  secure  the  advan- 
tages of  the  fur-trade  to  his  superiors  was  now  his 
principal  object;  and,  to  that  end,  he  chose  the  site 
of  the  present  city  of  Montreal  for  a  post,  which  he 
called  Place  Royale.  Soon  afterward,  he  returned  to 
France  ;  but,  early  in  the  spring  of  1613,  the  tireless 
voyager  again  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  sailed  up  the 
St.  Lawrence  ;  this  time  bound  for  the  Ottawa  to  dis- 
cover the  North  sea.  After  making  his  way  up  that 
river  to  the  home  of  the  Algonquins  of  Isle  des 
Allumettes,  he  returned  in  disgust  to  the  St.  Lawrence, 
and  again  embarked  for  France. 

At  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Montreal,  there 
had  assembled,  in  the  summer  of  1615,  Ilurons  from 
their  distant  villages  upon  the  shores  of  their  great 
lake,  and  Algonquins  from  their  homes  on  the  Ot- 
tawa— come  down  to  a  yearly  trade  with  the  French 
upon   the   St.  Lawrence.     Champlain,  who   had   re- 


EVENTS   LEADING    TO    WESTERN    EXPLORATION.  19 

turned  in  May  from  France,  was  asked  by  the  assem- 
bled savages  to  join  their  bands  against*the  Iroquois.  He 
consented ;  but,  while  absent  at  Quebec,  making  need- 
ful preparations,  the  savages  became  impatient,  and 
departed  for  their  homes.  With  them  went  Father 
Joseph  ]e  Caron,  a  Recollet,  accompanied  by  twelve 
armed  Frenchmen.  It  was  the  intention  of  this  mis- 
sionary to  learn  the  language  of  the  Ilurons,  and  la- 
bor for  their  spiritual  welfare.  His  departure  from 
the  St.  Lawrence  was  on  the  first  day  of  July.  Wme 
days  afterward,  Champlain,  with  two  Frenchmen  and 
ten  Indians  followed  him.  Both  parties  traveled  up 
the  Ottawa  to  the  Algonquin  villages ;  passed  the  two 
lakes  of  the  AUumettes  ;  threaded  their  way  to  a 
well-trodden  portage,  crossing  which  brought  them 
to  Lake  Mpissing ;  thence,  they  floated  westward 
down  the  current  of  French  river,  to  what  is  now 
known  as  Georgian  bay  ;  afterward,  for  more  than  a 
hundred  miles,  they  journeyed  southward  along  the 
eastern  shores  of  that  bay  to  its  head  ;  and  there  was 
the  home  of  the  Hurons. 

Champlain,  with  a  naked  host  of  allies,  was  soon 
on  the  march  against  the  Iroquois  from  the  Huron 
villages,  moving  down  the  river  Trent,  as  since 
named,  to  its  mouth,  when  his  eyes  were  gladdened 
with  the  view  of  another  of  the  fresh  water  seas — 
Lake  Ontario.  Boldly  they  crossed  its  broad  ex- 
panse, meeting  the  enemy  at  a  considerable  distance 
inland  from  its  southern  shores.  Defensive  works  of 
the  Iroquois  defied  the  assaults  of  the  beseigers.  The 
Huron  warriors  returned  in  disgust  to  their  homes, 
taking  Champlain  with  them.  He  was  compelled  to 
spend  the  winter  as  the  guest  of  these  savages,  re- 


20  DISCOVERY    OF    THE    NORTHWEST.     , 

turning  to  the  St.  Lawrence  by  way  of  tlie  Ottawa, 
and  reaching  QViebec  on  the  eleventh  of  July,  1616. 
He  had  seen  enough  of  the  region  traversed  by  him  to 
know  that  there  was  an  immense  country  lying  to  the 
westward  ready  to  be  given  to  his  king  the  moment 
he  should  be  able  to  explore  and  make  it  known. 
Father  le  Caron,  who  had  preceded  Champlain  on 
his  outward  trip  to  the  Huron  villages,  also  preceded 
him  on  his  return  ;  but  he  remained  long  enough 
with  those  Indians  to  obtain  a  considerable  knowl- 
edge of  their  language  and  of  their  manners  and  cus- 
toms. 

Quebec,  at  this  period,  could  hardly  be  called  a 
settlement.  It  contained  a  population  of  fur-traders 
and  friars  of  fifty  or  sixty  persons.  It  had  a  fort,  and 
Champlain  was  the  nominal  commander.  In  the  in- 
terest of  the  infant  colony  he  went  every  year  to 
France.  His  was  the  duty  to  regulate  the  monopoly 
of  the  company  of  merchants  in  their  trade  with  the 
Indians.  In  the  summer  of  1622,  the  Iroquois  beset 
the  settlement,  but  made  no  actual  attack.  A  change 
was  now  at  hand  in  the  affairs  of  ISTew  France.  Two 
Huguenots,  William  and  Emery  de  Caen,  had  taken 
the  place  of  the  old  company  of  St.  Malo  and  Rouen, 
but  were  afterward  compelled  to  share  their  monopoly 
with  them.  Fresh  troubles  were  thus  introduced 
into  the  infant  colony,  not  only  in  religious  affairs, 
but  in  secular  matters.  The  Recollets  had  previously 
established  five  missions,  extending  from  Acadia  to 
the  borders  of  Lake  Huron.  IN'ow,  three  Jesuits — 
among  their  number  John  de  Brebeuf — arrived  in  the 
colony,  and  began  their  spiritual  labors.  This  was  in 
1625.     When  the  year  1627  was  reached,  the  settle- 


EVENTS    LEADING    TO    WESTERN    EXPLORATION.  21 

ment  at  Quebec  had  a  population  of  about  one  hun- 
dred persons — men,  women,  and  children.  The  chief 
trading  stations  upon  the  St.  Lawrence  were  Quebec, 
Three  Elvers,  the  Eapids  of  St.  Louis,  and  Tadoussac. 
Turning  our  eyes  to  the  western  wilds,  we  see  that 
the  Hurons,  after  the  return  of  Le  Caron,  were  not 
again  visited  by  missionaries  until  1622. 

In  the  year  1G27,  the  destinies  of  France  were  held 
by  Cardinal  Richelieu  as  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand. 
He  had  constituted  himself  grand  master  and  super- 
intendent of  navigation  and  commerce.  By  him  the 
privileges  of  the  Caens  were  annulled,  and  a  com- 
pany formed,  consisting  of  a  hundred  associates, 
called  the  Company  of  ]^ew  France.  At  its  head 
was  Richelieu  himself.  Louis  the  Thirteenth  made 
over  to  tliis  company  forever  the  fort  and  settlement 
at  Quebec,  and  all  the  territory  of  ISTew  France,  in- 
cluding Florida.  To  them  was  given  power  to  ap- 
point judges,  build  fortresses,  cast  cannon,  confer 
titles,  and  concede  lands.  They  were  to  govern  in 
peace  and  in  war.  Their  monopoly  of  the  fur-trade 
was  made  perpetual ;  while  that  of  all  other  com- 
merce within  the  limits  of  their  government  was 
limited  to  fifteen  years,  except  that  the  whale- 
fishery  and  the  cod-fishery  were  to  remain  open  to 
all.  They  could  take  whatever  steps  they  might 
think  expedient  or  proper  for  the  protection  of  the 
colony  and  the  fostering  of  trade.  It  will  thus  be 
seen  that  the  Hundred  Associates  had  conferred  upon 
them  almost  sovereign  power.  For  fifteen  years 
their  commerce  was  not  to  be  troubled  with  duties  or 
•imposts.  Partners,  whether  nobles,  ofiicers,  or  ec- 
clesiastics,   might    engage    in    commercial    pursuits 


22  DISCOVERY   OF    THE   NORTHWEST. 

witliout  derogating  from  the  privileges  of  their  or- 
der. To  all  these  benefits  the  king  added  a  donation 
of  two  ships  of  war.  Of  this  powerful  association, 
Champlain  was  one  of  the  members. 

In  return  for  these  privileges  conferred,  behold 
how  little  these  hundred  partners  were  compelled  to 
perform.  They  engaged  to  convoy  to  Xcav  France, 
during  1628,  two  or  three  hundred  men  of  all  trades, 
and  before  the  year  1643  to  increase  the  number  to 
four  thousand  persons  of  both  sexes ;  to  supply  all 
their  settlers  with  lodging,  food,  clothing,  and  farm 
implements,  for  three  years ;  then  they  would  allow 
them  sufficient  land  to  support  themselves,  cleared  to 
a  certain  extent ;  and  would  also  furnish  them  the 
grain  necessary  for  sowing  it ;  stipulating,  abo,  that 
the  emigrants  should  be  native  Frenchmen  and  Ro- 
man Catholics,  and  none  others ;  and,  finally,  agree- 
ing to  settle  three  priests  in  each  settlement,  whom 
they  were  bound  to  provide  with  every  article  neces- 
sary for  their  personal  comfort,  and  to  defray  the  ex- 
penses of  their  ministerial  labors  for  fifteen  years. 
After  the  expiration  of  that  time,  cleared  lands  were 
to  be  granted  by  the  company  to  the  clergy  for  main- 
taining the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  "New  France. 
It  was  thus  that  the  Hundred  Associates  became  pro- 
prietors of  the  whole  country  claimed  by  France, 
from  Florida  to  the  Arctic  Circle;  from  Newfound- 
land to  the  sources  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  its  trib- 
utaries. Meanwhile,  the  fur-trade  had  brought  a 
considerable  knowledge  of  the  Ottawa,  and  of  the 
country  of  the  Ilurons,  to  the  French  upon  the  St. 
Lawrence,  through  the  yearly  visits  of  the  savages 


EVENTS    LEADING   TO    WESTERN   EXPLORATION.  23 

from  those  distant  parts  and  the  journeyings  of  the 
fur-trader  in  quest  of  peltry. 

In  April,  1628,  the  first  vessels  of  the  Hundred  As- 
sociates sailed  from  France  with  coloilists  and  supplies 
hound  for  the  St.  Lawrence.  Four  of  these  vessels 
were  armed.  Every  thing  seemed  propitious  for  a 
speedy  arrival  at  Quehec,  where  the  inhabitants  were 
sorely  pressed  for  food ;  but  a  storm,  which  had  for 
some  time  been  brewing  in  Europe,  broke  in  fury 
upon  'New  France.  The  imprudent  zeal  of  the  Cath- 
olics in  England,  and  the  persecution  of  the  Hugue- 
nots in  France,  aroused  the  English,  who  determined 
to  conquer  the  French  possessions  in  I^orth  America, 
if  possible ;  and,  to  that  end,  they  sent  out  David 
Kirk,  with  an  armed  squadron,  to  attack  the  settle- 
ments in  Canada.  The  fleet  reached  the  harbor  of 
Tadoussac  before  the  arrival  of  the  vessels  of  the 
Company  of  New  France.  Kirk  sent  a  demand  for 
the  surrender  of  Quebec,  but  Champlain  determined 
to  defend  the  place ;  at  least,  he  resolved  to  make  a 
show  of  defense ;  and  the  English  commander  thought 
best  not  to  attack  such  a  formidable  looking  position. 
All  the  supplies  sent  by  the  Hundred  Associates  to  the 
St.  Lawrence  were  captured  or  sunk ;  and  the  next 
year,  after  most  of  its  inhabitants  had  dispersed  in 
the  forests  for  food,  Quebec  surrendered.  England 
thus  gained  her  first  supremacy  upon  the  great  river 
of  Canada. 

The  terms  of  the  capitulation  were  that  the  French 
were  to  be  conveyed  to  their  own  country ;  and  each 
soldier  was  allowed  to  take  with  him  furs  to  the 
value  of  twenty  crowns.  As  some  had  lately  returned 
from  the  Hurons  with  peltry  of  no  small  value,  their 


24  DISCOVERY    OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

loss  was  considerable.  The  French  prisoners,  includ- 
ing Champlain,  were  conveyed  across  the  ocean  by 
Kirk,  but  their  arrival  in  England  was  after  a  treaty 
of  peace  had  been  signed  between  the  two  powers. 
The  result  was,  the  restoration  of  'New  France  to  the 
French  crown  ;  and,  on  the  5th  of  July,  1632,  £mery 
de  Caen  cast  anchor  at  Quebec  to  reclaim  the  coun- 
try. He  had  received  a  commission  to  hold,  for  one 
year,  a  monopoly  of  the  fur-trade,  as  an  indemnity 
for  his  losses  in  the  w^ar ;  after  which  time  he  was  to 
give  place  to  the  Hundred  Associates.  The  missions 
in  Canada  which  by  the  success  of  the  British  arms 
had  been  interrupted,  were  now  to  be  continued  by 
Jusuits  alone.  De  Caen  brought  with  him  two  of 
that  order — Paul  le  Jeune  and  Anne  de  la  IToue. 

On  the  twenty- third  of  May,  1633,  Champlain,  com- 
missioned anew  by  Richelieu,  resumed  command  at 
Quebec,  in  behalf  of  the  Hundred  Partners,  arriving 
out  with  considerable  supplies  and  several  new  set- 
tlers. With  him  returned  the  Jesuit  father,  John  de 
Brebeuf.  The  Recollets  had  been  virtually  ejected 
from  Canada.  The  whole  missionary  field  was  now 
ready  for  cultivation  by  the  followers  of  Loyola.  New 
France  was  restored  to  Champlain  and  his  company, 
and  to  Catholicism. 

Champlain's  first  care  was  to  place  the  affairs  of  the 
colony  in  a  more  prosperous  condition,  and  establish 
a  better  understanding  with  the  Indians.  In  both  re- 
spects, he  was  tolerably  successful.  His  knowledge  of 
the  western  country  had  been  derived  from  his  own 
observations  during  the  tours  of  1613  and  1615,  but 
especially  from  accounts  given  him  by  the  Indians. 
At  the  beginning  of  1634,  the  whole  French  popula- 


EVENTS  LEADING  TO  WESTERN  EXPLORATION.    25 

tion,  from  Gaspe  to  Three  Rivers,  was  hardly  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  souls,  mostly  engaged  in  the  trading 
business,  on  behalf  of  the  Hundred  Partners,  whose 
operations  were  carried  on  principally  at  the  point 
last  named  and  at  Tadoussac — sometimes  as  far  up 
the  St.  Lawrence  as  the  site  of  the  present  city  of 
Montreal,  but  not  often.  Of  the  small  colony  upon 
the  great  river  of  Canada,  Champlain  was  the  heart 
and  soul.  The  interior  of  the  continent  was  yet  to 
be  explored.  He  was  resolved  to  know  more  of  ul- 
terior regions — to  create  more  friends  among  the  sav- 
ages therein.  The  time  had  arrived  for  such  enter- 
prises, and  a  trusty  condy.ctor  was  at  hand. 
3 


CHAPTER  11. 

JOHN  NICOLET,   THE   EXPLORER. 

As  early  as  the  year  1615,  Champlain  had  selected 
a  number  of  young  men  and  put  them  in  care  of  some 
of  his  Indian  friends,  to  have  them  trained  to  the  life 
of  the  woods — to  the  language,  manners,  customs, 
and  habits  of  the  savages.  'His  object  was  to  open, 
through  them,  as  advisers  and  interpreters,  friendly 
relations,  when  the  proper  time  should  come,  with 
the  Indian  nations  not  yet  brought  in  close  alliance 
with  the  French.  In  1618,  an  opportunity  presented 
itself  for  him  to  add  another  young  Frenchman  to 
the  list  of  those  who  had  been  sent  to  be  trained  in  all 
the  mysteries  of  savage  life  ;  for,  in  that  year,  John 
Nicolet  ^  arrived  from  France,  and  was  dispatched  to 
the  woods.^     The  new-comer  was  born  in  Cherbourg, 

*  The  proper  spelling  is  "  Nicolet,"  not  "  Nicollet,"  nor  "Nicol- 
lett."  The  correct  pronunciation  is  " Nick-o-lay.'  The  people 
of  the  province  of  Quebec  all  pronounce  the  name  *'  ^icoUetie;' 
though  improperly,  the  same  as.  the  word  would  be  pronounced 
by  English-speaking  people  if  it  were  spelled  "  Nick-o-let."  But 
it  is  now  invariably  written  by  them  "  Nicolet." 

2  Vimont,  Relation,  1643  (Quebec  edition,  1858),  p.  3.  The  Jesu- 
its, intent  upon  pushing  their  fields  of  labor  far  into  the  heart  of 
the  continent,  let  slip  no  opportunity  after  their  arrival  upon  the 
St,  Lawrence  to  inform  themselves  concerning  ulterior  regions; 
and  the  information  thus  obtained  was  noted  down  by  them. 
(26) 


THE    EXPLORER.  27 

in  l^ormandy.  His  father,  Thomas  ^icolet,  was  a 
mail-carrier  from  that  city  to  Paris.  His  mother's 
name  was  Marguerite  de  la  Mer.^ 

Nicolet  was  a  young  man  of  good  character,  en- 
dowed with  a  profound  religious  feeling,  and  an  ex- 

They  minutely  described,  during  a  period  of  forty  years,  begin- 
ning with  the  year  1632,  the  various  tribes  they  came  in  contact 
with  ;  and  their  hopes  and  fears  as  to  Christianizing  them  were 
freely  expressed.  Accounts  of  their  journeys  were  elaborated 
upon,  and  their  missionary  work  put  upon  record.  Prominent 
persons,  as  well  as  important  events,  shared  their  attention.  De- 
tails concerning  the  geography  of  the  country  were  also  written 
out.  The  intelligence  thus  collected  was  sent  every  summer  by 
the  superiors  to  the  provincials  at  Paris,  where  it  was  yearly 
published,  in  the  French  language.  Taken  together,  these  pub- 
lications constitute  what  are  known  as  the  Jesuit  Relations.  They 
have  been  collected  and  republished  in  the  same  language,  at 
Quebec,  by  the  Canadian  government,  in  three  large  volumes. 
As  these  are  more  accessible  to  the  general  reader  in  this  form 
than  in  the  original  (Cramoisy)  editions,  they  are  cited  in  this 
narrative. 

There  is  no  complete  translation  of  the  Relations  into  the  En- 
glish language.  Numerous  extracts  from  the  originals  bearing 
particularly  upon  the  West — especially  upon  what  is  now  Wiscon- 
sin— were  made  some  years  since  by  Cyrus  Woodman,  of  Mineral 
Point,  translations  of  which  are  to  be  found  in  Smith's  history 
of  that  State,  Vol.  III.,  pp.  10-112.  But  none  of  these  are  from 
the  Relation  of  1643 — the  most  important  one  in  its  reference  to 
Nicolet  and  his  visit  to  the  Northwest. 

^  "Jean  Nicollet  ne  a  Cherbourg,  etait  tils  de  Thomas  Nicollet, 
messager  ordinaire  de  Cherbourg  a  Paris,  et  de  Marie  La  Mer." 
— Ferland's  Cours  d!  Histoire  du  Canada  (1861),  Vol.  I.,  p.  324, 
note.  But,  in  his  "  Notes  sur  les  Registres  de  Notre-Dame  de 
Quebec"  (Quebec,  1863,  p.  30),  he  corrects  the  mother's  name, 
giving  it  as  in  the  text  above.  That  this  was  her  real  name  is 
ascertained  from  the  Quebec  parochial  register,  and  from  Guitet's 
records  (notary)  of  that  city. 


28  DISCOVERY    OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

cellent  memory.  He  awakened  in  the  breast  of 
Champlain  high  hopes  of  usefuhiess,  and  was  by  him 
sent  to  the  Algonquins  of  Isle  des  Allumettes,  in  the  Ot- 
tawa river.  These  Indians  were  the  same  Algonquins 
that  were  visited  by  Champlain  in  1613.  They  are 
frequently  spoken  of,  in  early  annals  of  Canada,  as 
Algonquins  of  the  Isle.  But  all  Algonquins,  wher- 
ever found,  were  afterward  designated  as  Ottawas  by 
the  French.  To  "  the  :N"ation  of  the  Isle,"  then,  was 
sent  the  young  I^Torman,  that  he  might  learn  their 
language,  which  was  in  general  use  upon  the  Ottawa 
river  and  upon  the  north  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 
"With  them  he  remained  two  years,  following  them  in 
their  wanderings,  partaking  of  their  dangers,  their 
fatigues,  and  their  privations,  with  a  courage  and 
fortitude  equal  to  the  boldest  and  the  bravest  of  the 
tribe.  During  all  this  time,  he  saw  not  the  face  of  a 
single  white  man.  On  several  different  occasions  he 
passed  a  number  of  days  without  a  morsel  of  food, 
and  he  was  sometimes  fain  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of 
hunger  by  eating  bark.^ 

^ "  II  [Nicolet]  arriua  en  la  Nouuelle  France,  Tan  mil  six  cents 
dixhuict.  Son  humeur  et  sa  memoire  excellente  firent  esperer 
quelque  chose  debondeluy;  ou  I'enuoya  hiuerner  auec  les  Al- 
gonquins de  risle  afin  d'appiendre  leur  langue.  II  y  demeura 
deux  ans  seul  de  Fran9ois,  accompagnant  tousiours  les  Barbares 
dans  leurs  courses  et  voyages,  auec  des  fatigues  qui  ne  sont  im- 
aginables  qu'a  ceux  qui  les  ont  veiies  ;  il  passa  plusieurs  fois  los 
sept  et  huict  iours  sans  rien  manger,  il  fut  sept  semaines  entieres 
sans  autre  nourriture  qu'vn  peu  d'escorce  de  bois." — Vimont  de- 
lation, 1643,  p.  3.  (The  antiquated  orthography  and  accentuation 
of  the  Hdations  are  strictly  followed  in  the  foregoing  extract ; 


JOHN   NICOLET,    THE   EXPLORER.  29 

Nicolet,  while  residing  witli  the  Algonquins  of  Isle 
des  Allumettee,  with  whose  language  he  had  now  be- 
come familiar,  accompanied  four  hundred  of  those 
savages  upon  a  mission  of  peace  to  the  Iroquois.  The 
voyage  proved  a  successful  one,  Xicolet  returning  in 
safety.  Afterward,  he  took  up  his  residence  among 
the  I^ipissings,  with  whom  he  remained  eight  or  nine 
years.  He  was  recognized  as  one  of  the  nation.  He 
entered  into  the  very  frequent  councils  of  those  sav- 
ages. He  had  his  own  cabin  and  establishment,  do- 
ing his  own  fishing  and  trading.  He  had  become, 
indeed,  a  naturalized  ^ipissing.^     The  mental  activity 

so,  also,  in  all  those  hereafter  made  from  them  in  this  nar- 
rative. ) 

"On  his  [Nicolet's]  first  arrival  [in  New  France],  by  orders  of 
those  who  presided  over  the  French  colony  of  Quebec,  he  spent 
two  whole  years  among  the  Algonquins  of  the  island,  for  the 
purpose  of  learning  their  language,  without  any  Frenchman  as 
companion,  and  in  the  midst  of  those  hardships,  which  may 
be  readily  conceived,  if  we  will  reflect  what  it  must  be  to  pass 
severe  winters  in  the  woods,  under  a  covering  of  cedar  or  birch 
bark  ;  to  have  one's  means  of  subsistence  dependent  upon  hunt- 
ing; to  be  perpetually  hearing  rude  outcries;  to  be  deprived 
of  the  pleasant  society  of  one's  own  people;  and  to  be  con- 
stantly exposed,  not  only  to  derision  and  insulting  words,  but 
even  to  daily  peril  of  life.  There  was  a  time,  indeed,  when  he 
went  without  food  for  a  whole  week;  and  (what  is  really  won- 
derful) he  even  spent  seven  weeks  without  having  any  thing  to 
eat  but  a  little  bark." — Du  Creux,  IHstoria  Canadensis,  Paris, 
1664,  p.  359.  "  Probably,"  says  Margry,  "  he  must,  from  time  to 
time,  have  added  some  of  the  lichen  which  the  Canadians  call 
rock  tripe."  —  Journal  General  de  I' Instruction  Publique.  Paris, 
1862. 

^  "  II  \NicoIet']  accompagna  quatre  cents  Algonquins,  qui  alloient 
en  ce  temps  la  faire  la  paix  auec  les  Hiroquois,  et  en  vint  a  bout 


30  DISCOVERY   OF   THE  NORTHWEST. 

displayed  by  him  while  sojourning  among  these  savages 
may  be  judged  of  from  the  circumstance  of  his  having 
taken  notes  descriptive  of  the  habits,  manners,  customs, 
and  numbers  of  the  Nipissing  Indians,  written  in  the 
form  of  memoirs,  which  were  afterward  presented  by 
him  to  one  of  the  missionaries,  who,  doubtless,  made 
good  use  of  them  in  after-time  in  giving  an  account 
of  the  nation.^ 

Nicolet  finally  left  the  savages,  and  returned  to 
civilization,  being  recalled  by  the  government  and 
employed  as  commissary  and  Indian  interpreter.^  It  is 
probable,  however,  that  he  had  signified  his  desire  to 
leave  the  ^ipissings,  as  he  could  not  live  without  the 
sacraments,^  which  were  denied  him  so  long  as  he  re- 
mained with  them,  there  being  no  mission  established 
in  their  country.* 

heureusement.  Pleust  a  Dieu  quelle  n'eust  iamais  este  rompue, 
nous  ne  souffririons  pas  a  present  les  calamitez  qui  nous  font 
gemir  ot  donneront  vn  estrange  empeschement  a  la  conuersion 
de  ces  peuples.  Apes  cette  paix  faite,  il  alia  demeurer  liuict  ou 
neuf  ans  auec  la  nation  des  Nipissiriniens,  Algonquins;  la  il  pas- 
soit  pour  vn  de  cette  nation,  entrant  dans  les  conseils  forts 
frequents  a  ces  peuples,  ayant  sa  cabana  et  son  mesnage  a 
part,  faisant  sa  perche  et  sa  traitte." — Vimont,  Relation,  1G43, 
P-3. 

*  "  lay  quelques  niemoires  de  sa  main,  qui  pourront  paroistre 
vn  iour,  touchant  les  Nipisiriniens,  auec  lesquels  il  a  souuent 
hyuerne." — Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1036,  p.  58. 

2 "  11  \_Nicolet'\  fut  enfin  rappalle  et  estably  Commis  et  Inter- 
prete."— Vimont,  Relation,  1643,  p.  3. 

'  "  II  \_NicQlet'\  .  .  .  ne  s'en  est  retire,  que  pour  mettre  son 
salut  en  asseurance  dans  I'vsage  des  Sacremens,  faute  desquels  il 
y  a  grande  risque  pour  Tame,  parmy  les  Sauuages." — Le  Jeune, 
Relation,  1636,  pp.  57,  58. 

*It  would  be  quite  impossible  to  reconcile  the  Relation  of  1643 


31 

Quebec  having  been  reoccupied  by  the  French, 
l^icolet  took  up  his  residence  there.  He  was  in  high 
favor  with  Champlain,  who  could  not  but  admire  his 
remarkable  adaptation  to  savage  Hfe — the  result  of 
his  courage  and  peculiar  temperament;  at  least,  this 
admiration  may  be  presumed,  from  the  circumstance 
of  his  having,  as  the  sequel  shows,  soon  after  sent 
him  upon  an  important  mission. 

Whether  ITicolet  visited  Quebec  during  his  long 
residence  among  the  N^ipissing  Indians  is  not  known. 
Possibly  he  returned  to  the  St.  Lawrence  in  1628,  to 
receive  orders  from  Champlain  on  account  of  the 
new  state  of  things  inaugurated  by  the  creation  of 
the  system  of  1627 — the  Hundred  Associates ;  but, 
in  that  event,  he  must  have  soon  returned,  for  it  is 
known  that  he  remained  with  the  j^ipissings  during 
the  occupation  of  Quebec  by  the  English — from  July, 
1629,  to  July,  1632.  The  month  during  which,  in  the 
early  days  of  ^ew  France,  the  trade  of  the  Ottawa 
was  performed  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  was  July  ;  and, 
in  1632,  this  trade  was  largely  carried  on  where  the 
city  of  Three  Rivers  now  stands,  but  which  was  not 
then  founded.^     The  flotilla  of  bark   canoes   used  to 

(p.  3)  with  that  of  1G36  (pp.  57,  58),  respecting  Nicolet's  retiring 
from  his  Indian  life,  unless  he,  for  tlie  motive  stated,  asked  for 
his  recall  and  was  recalled  accordingly. 

^  Champlain's  map  of  1632  shows  no  habitation  on  the  St.  Law- 
rence above  Quebec.  In  1633,  Three  Rivers  was  virtually 
founded ;  but  the  fort  erected  there  by  Champlain  was  not  be- 
gun until  1634. — Suite's  Chronique  Trifluvienne,  p.  5. 

"As  for  the  towns  in  Canada,  there  are  but  three  of  any  con- 
siderable figure.  These  are  Quebec,  Montreal,  and  Ti'ois  Rivieres 
[Three  Rivers].     .     .     .     Trois  Rivieres  is  a  town  so  named  from 


32  DISCOVERY    OF    THE   NORTHWEST. 

spend  usually  from  eight  to  ten  days  in  that  place — 
seldom  reaching  Quebec.  In  the  month  and  the 
year  just  mentioned,  De  Caen  arrived  in  Canada; 
and  he  was,  therefore,  in  the  position  to  send  word, 
by  the  assembled  Indians,  to  the  French  who  were 
living  among  the  savages  upon  the  Ottawa  and  the 
Georgian  bay  of  Lake  Huron,  requesting  their  return 
to  the  St.  Lawrence. 

Champlain,  in  June,  1633,  caused  a  small  fort  to  be 
erected  about  forty  miles  above  Quebec,  for  the 
rendezvous  of  the  trading  flotilla  descending  the  St. 
Lawrence — to  draw  the  market  nearer  Quebec.  It 
was  thus  the  St.  Croix  fort  was  established  where  the 
trade  with  the  Indians  would  be  much  less  likely  to 

its  situation  at  the  confluence  of  three  rivers,  one  whereof  is 
that  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  lies  almost  in  the  midway  between 
Quebec  and  Montreal,  It  is  said  to  be  a  well  built  town,  and  con- 
siderable mart,  where  the  Indians  exchange  their  skins  and  furs 
for  European  goods." — An  Account  of  the  French  Settlements  in 
North  America,  Boston^  1746,  pp.  12,  14. 

"  Three  Rivers,  or  Trois  Kivieres,  is  a  town  of  Canada  East,  at 
the  confluence  of  the  rivers  St.  Maurice  and  St.  Lawrence,  ninety- 
miles  from  Quebec,  with  which  it  is  connected  by  electric  tele- 
graph, and  on  the  line  of  the  proposed  railway  thence  to  Mon- 
treal. It  is  one  of  the  oldest  towns  in  Canada,  and  was  long 
stationary  as  regarded  enterprise  or  improvement;  but  recently 
it  has  become  one  of  the  most  prosperous  places  in  the  province 
— a  change  produced  principally  by  the  commencement  of  an 
extensive  trade  in  lumber  on  the  river  St.  Maurice  and  its  tribu- 
taries, which  had  heretofore  been  neglected,  and  also  by  in- 
creased energy  in  the  manufacture  of  iron-ware,  for  which  the 
St.  Maurice  forges,  about  three  miles  distant  from  the  town, 
have  always  been  celebrated  in  Canada.  Three  Rivers  is  the  res- 
idence of  a  Roman  Catholic  bishop,  whose  diocese  bears  the 
same  name;  and  contains  a  Roman  Catholic  cathedral,  a  church 


JOHN   NICOLET,   THE    EXPLOREE.  33 

be  interrupted  by  incursions  of  the  Iroquois  than  at 
Three  Rivers.  At  this  time,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
Huron  canoes  arrived  at  the  newly-chosen  position, 
for  traffic  with  the  French.  Possibly  so  great  a  num- 
ber was  the  result  of  the  change  in  the  government 
of  the  colony — the  return  of  the  French  to  Quebec  the 
preceding  year.  With  this  large  fleet  of  canoes 
^icolet  probably  returned  to  civilization  ;  for  it  is 
certain  that  he  was  upon  the  St.  Lawrence  as  early  as 
June,  1634,  ready  to  embark  in  an  undertaking  which, 
of  necessity,  would  have  caused  so  much  consultation 
and  preparation  as  to  preclude  the  idea  of  his  arrival, 
just  then,  from  the  Ottawa.  An  Indian  interpreter 
— one  well  acquainted  with  the  Algonquins  of  the 
Ottawa,  and  to  a  certain  extent  with  the  Ilurons  of 
Georgian  bay — who  could  Champlain  more  safely  de- 
pend upon  than  Nicolet  to  develop  his  schemes  of 
exploration  in  the  unknown  western  country,  the 
door  of  which  he  had  himself  opened  in  previous 
years  ?  Who  Avas  there  better  qualified  than  his 
young  'proUge,  familiar  as  he  was  with  the  Algonquin 
and  Huron-Iroquois  tongues,  to  hold  "  talks  "  with 
savage  tribes  still  further  west,  and  smoke  with  them 
the  pipe  of  peace — to  the  end  that  a  nearer  route  to 

of  England,  a  Scotch  kirk,  and  a  AYesleyan  chapel,  an  Ursuline 
convent,  with  a  school  attached,  where  over  two  hundred  young 
females  are  educated ;  two  public  and  several  private  schools, 
a  mechanics'  institute,  a  Canadian  institute,  and  a  Young  Men's 
Improvement,  and  several  other  societies.  It  sends  a  member 
to  the  provincial  parliament.  Population  in  1852,  was  4,966;  in 
1861,  6,038.  The  district  of  Three  Rivers  embraces  both  sides 
of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  is  subdivided  into  four  counties." — 
Lippincoit's  Gazetteer,  Philadelphia,  1874. 


34  .      DISCOVERY   OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

China  and  Japan  might  be  discovered ;  or,  at  least, 
that  the  fur-trade  might  be  made  more  profitable  to 
the  Hundred  Associates?  Surely,  no  one.  Hence  it 
was  that  Nicolet  was  recalled  by  the  governor  of 
Canada. 


CHAPTEE  III. 

NICOLET   DISCOVERS   THE   NORTHWEST. 

Kotwitlistanding  Champlain  liad  previously  as- 
cended the  Ottawa  and  stood  upon  the  shores  of  the 
Georgian  hay  of  Lake  Huron,  and  although  he  had 
received  from  western  Indians  numerous  reports  of 
distant  regions,  his  knoAvledge  of  the  great  lakes 
was,  in  1634,  exceedingly  limited.  He  had  heard  of 
Magara,  but  was  of  the  opinion  that  it  was  only  a 
rapid,  such  as  the  St.  Louis,  in  the  river  St.  Lawrence. 
He  was  wholly  uninformed  concerning  Lake  Erie, 
Lake  St.  Clair,  and  Lake  Michigan  ;  while,  of  Lake 
Huron,  he  knew  little,  and  of  Lake  Superior  still 
less.  He  was  assured  that  there  was  a  connection  be- 
tween the  last-named  lake  and  the  St.  Lawrence ; 
but  his  supposition  was,  that  a  river  flowed  from 
Lake  Huron  directly  into  Lake  Ontario.  Such,  cer- 
tainly was  the  extent  of  his  information  in  1632,  as 
proven  by  his   map    of  that  date  ;^  and   that,  for  the 

^  This  map  was  the  first  attempt  at  delineating  the  great 
lakes.  The  original  was,  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt,  the 
work  of  Champlain  himself.  So  much  of  New  France  as 
had  been  visited  by  the  delineator  is  given  with  some 
degree  of  accuracy.  On  the  whole,  the  map  has  a  grotesque 
appearance,  yet  it  possesses  much  value.  It  shows  where  many 
savage  nations  were  located  at  its  date.  By  it,  several  important 
historical  problems  concerning  the   Northwest  are  solved.     It 

(35) 


36  DISCOVERY    OF    THE   NORTHWEST. 

next  two  years,  he  could  have  received  much  addi- 
tional information  concerning  the  great  lakes  is  not 
prohahle. 

He  had  early  been  told  that  near  the  borders  of 
one  of  these  "  fresh-water  seas,"  were  copper  mines; 
for,  ill  June,  1610,  while  moving  up  the  St.  Lawrence 
to  join  a  war-party  of  Algonquins,  Ilurons,  and 
Montagnais,  he  met,  after  ascending  the  river  about 
twenty-five  miles  above  Quebec,  a  canoe  containing 
two  Indians — an  Algonquin  and  a  Montagnais — who 
had  been  dispatched  to  urge  him  to  hasten  forward 
with  all  possible  speed.  He  entertained  them  on  his 
bark,  and  conferred  with  them  about  many  mat- 
ters concerning  their  wars.  Thereupon,  the  Algon- 
quin savage  drew  from  a  sack  a  piece  of  copper,  a 
foot  long,  which  he  gave  Champlain.  It  was  very 
handsome  and  quite  pure.  He  said  there  were  large 
quantities  of  the  metal  where  he  obtained  the  piece, 
and  that  it  was  found  on  the  bank  of  a  river  near  a 
great  lake.  He  also  declared  that  the  Indians  gath- 
ered it  in  lumps,  and,  having  melted  it,  spread  it  in 
sheets,  smoothing  it  with  stones.^ 

Champlain  had,  also,  early  information  that  there 

was  first  published,  along  with  Champlain's  "  Voyages  de  la  Nov- 
velle  France,"  in  Paris.  Facsimiles  have  been  published ;  one 
accompanies  volume  third  of  E.  B.  O'Callaghans  "  Documentary 
History  of  the  State  of  New  York,"  Albany,  1850;  another  is 
found  in  a  reprint  of  Champlain's  works  by  Laverdiere  (Vol. 
VI.),  Quebec,  1870;  another  is  by  Tross,  Paris. 

^Champlain's  Voyages,  Paris,  1613.  pp.  246,  217.  Upon  his  map 
of  1632,  Champlain  marks  an  island  "  where  there  is  a  copper 
mine."  Instead  of  being  placed  in  Lake  Superior,  as  it  doubt- 
less should  have  been,  it  linds  a  location  in  Green  bay. 


NICOLET   DISCOVERS   THE   NORTHWEST.  37 

dwelt  in  those  far-off  countries  a  nation  which  once 
lived  upon  the  borders  of  a  distant  sea.  These  peo- 
ple were  called,  for  that  reason,  "  Men  of  the  Sea," 
by  the  Algonquins.  Their  homes  were  less  than  four 
hundred  leagues  away.  It  was  likewise  reported 
that  another  people,  without  hair  or  beards,  whose 
costumes  and  manners  somewhat  resembled  the  Tar- 
tars, came  from  the  west  to  trade  with  this  ''  sea- 
tribe."  These  more  remote  traders,  as  was  claimed, 
made  their  journeys  upon  a  great  water  in  large 
canoes.  The  missionaries  among  the  Hurons,  as  well 
as  Champlain  and  the  best  informed  of  the  French 
settlers  upon  the  St.  Lawrence,  thought  this  "  great 
water  "  must  be  a  western  sea  leading  to  Asia.^  Some 
of  the  Indians  who  traded  with  the  French  were  in 
the  habit  of  going  occasionally  to  barter  with  those 
'^  People  of  the  Sea,"  distant  from  their  homes  five 
or  six  weeks'  journey.  A  lively  imagination  on  part 
of  the  French  easily  converted  these  hairless  traders 
coming  from  the  west  into  Chinese  or  Japanese  ;  al- 
though, in  fact,  they  were  none  other  than  the  pro- 
genitors of  the  savages  now  known  as  the  Sioux,^ 

^  This  "  great  water  "  was,  as  will  hereafter  be  shown,  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  its  tributary,  the  Wisconsin. 

^Synonyms:  Cioux,  Scions,  Sioust,  Naduessue,  Nadouesiouack, 
Nadouesiouek,  Nadoussi,  Nadouessioux,  etc. 

"  The  Sioux,  or  Dakotah  [Dakota],  .  .  .  were  [when  first 
visited  by  civilized  men]  a  numerous  people,  separated  into  three 
great  divisions,  which  were  again  subdivided  into  bands.  .  .  , 
[One  of  these  divisions — the  most  easterly — was  the  Issanti.]  The 
other  great  divisions,  the  Yanktons  and  the  Tintonwans,  or  Te- 
tons,  lived  west  of  the  Mississippi,  extending  beyond  the  Missouri, 
and  ranging  as  far  as  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  Issanti  cultivated 


38  DISCOVERY   OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

while  the  "  sea-trihe  "  was  the  nation  called,  subse- 
quently,  Winneb'agoes.^      Upon   these   reports,   the 

the  soil;  but  the  extreme  western  bands  lived  upon  the  buffalo 
alone.     .     .     . 

"  The  name  Sioux  is  an  abbreviation  of  Kadoucssioux,  an  Ojibwa 
[Chippewa]  word,  meaning  enemies.  The  Ojibvvas  used  it  to  des- 
ignate this  people,  and  occasionally,  also,  the  Iroquois — being  at 
deadly  war  with  both." — Parkman's  "  La  Salle  and  the  Discovery 
of  the  Great  West"  (revised  ed.),  p.  242,  note. 

^  From  the  Algonquin  word  "  ouinipeg,"  signifying  "  bad 
smelling  water,"  as  salt-water  was  by  them  designated.  When, 
therefore,  the  Algonquins  spoke  of  this  tribe  as  the  "  Ouinipi- 
gou,"  they  simply  meant  "  Men  of  the  Salt-water;"  that  is,  "  Men 
of  the  Sea."  But  the  French  gave  a  different  signification  to 
the  word,  calling  the  nation  "Men  of  the  Stinking-water;"  or, 
rather,  "the  Nation  of  Stinkards" — "la  Nation  des  Puans." 
And  they  are  so  designated  by  Champlain  in  his  "  Voyages,"  in 
1G32,  and  on  his  map  of  that  year.  By  Friar  Gabriel  Sagard 
("  Histoire  du  Canada,''  Paris,  1636  p.  201),  they  are  also  noted 
as  "  des  Puants."  Sagards  information  of  the  Winnebagoes,  al- 
though printed  after  Nicolet's  visit  to  that  tribe,  was  obtained 
previous  to  that  event.  The  home  of  this  nation  was  around 
the  head  of  Green  bay,  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Wisconsin. 
Says  Vimont  {Relation,  1G40,  p.  35),  as  to  the  signification  of  the 
word  "  ouinipeg :" 

"Quelques  Fran9ois  les  appellant  la  Nation  des  Puans,  a  cause 
que  le  mot  Algonquin  ouinipeg  signifie  eau  puante;  or  ils  nom- 
ment  ainsi  I'eau  de  la  mer  salee,  si  bien  que  ces  peuples  se  nom- 
ment  Ouinipigou,  pource  qu'ils  viennent  des  bords  d'vne  mer 
dont  nous  n'auons  point  de  cognoissance,  et  par  consequent  il  ne 
faut  pas  les  appeller  la  nation  des  Puans,  mais  la  nation  de  la 
mer."  The  same  is  reiterated  in  the  Relations  of  1048  and  1G54. 
Consult,  in  this  connection,  Smith's  "  History  of  Wisconsin,'' 
Vol.  III.,  pp.  ]1,  15,  17.  To  John  Gilmary  Shea  belongs  the 
credit  of  first  identifying  the  "  Ouinipigou,"  or  "  Gens  de  Mer," 
of  Vimont  (Relation,  1 040),  with  the  Winnebagoes.  See  his  "  Dis- 
covery and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  .1853,  pp. 
20,  21. 


NICOLET   DISCOVERS   THE   NORTHWEST.  39 

missionaries  had  already  built  fond  expectations  of 
one  day  reaching  China  by  the  ocean  which  washed 
alike  the  shores  of  Asia  and  Anrierica.  And,  as  al- 
ready noticed,  Champlain,  too,  was  not  less  sanguine 
in  his  hopes  of  accomplishing  a  similar  journey. 

Mcolet,  while  living  with  the  Nipissings,  must 
have  heard  many  stories  of  the  strange  people  so 
much  resembling  the  Chinese,  and  doubtless  his  curi- 
osity was  not  less  excited  than  was  Champlain's.  But 
the  great  question  was,  who  should  penetrate  the 
wilderness  to  the  "  People  of  the  Sea" — to  "  La  Na- 
tion des  Puants,"  as  they  were  called  by  Champlain  ? 
Naturally  enough,  the  e3^es  of  the  governor  of  Can- 
ada were  fixed  upon  E'icolet  as  the  man  to  make  the 
trial.  The  latter  had  returned  Uo  Quebec,  it  will 
be  remembered,  and  was  acting  as  commissary  and 
interpreter  for  the  Hundred  Associates.  That  he 
was  paid  by  them  and  received  his  orders  from  them 
through  Champlain,  their  representative,  is  reason- 
ably certain.  So  he  was  chosen  to  make  a  journey 
to  the  Winnebagoes,  for  the  purpose,  principally,  of 
solving  the  problem  of  a  near  route  to  China.^ 

If  he  should  fail  in  discovering  a  new  highway  to 
the  east  in  reaching  these  "  People  of  the  Sea,"  it 
would,  in  any  event,  be  an  important  step  toward  the 
exploration  of  the  then  unknown  west;  and  why 
should  not  the  explorer,  in  visiting  the  various  na- 
tions living  upon  the  eastern  and  northern  shores  of 

^  It  is  nowhere  stated  in  the  Ilelations  that  such  was  the  ob- 
ject of  Champlain  in  dispatching  Nicolet  to  these  people;  never- 
theless, that  it  was  the  chief  purpose  had  in  view  by  him,  is 
fairly  deducible  from  what  is  known  of  his  purposes  at  that  date. 
He  had,  also,  other  designs  to  be  accomplished. 


40  DISCOVERY  OF   THE   KORTHWEST. 

Lake  Huron,  and  beyond  this  inland  sea,  create 
friends  among  the  savage  tribes,  in  hopes  that  a  reg- 
ular trade  in  peltries  might  be  established  with  them. 
To  this  end,  he  must  meet  them  in  a  friendly  way ; 
have  talks  with  them;  and  firmly  unite  them,  if 
possible,  to  French  interests.  Champlain  knew,  from 
personal  observation  made  while  traveling  upon  the 
Ottawa  and  the  shores  of  the  Georgian  bay  of  Lake 
Huron — from  the  reports  of  savages  who  came  from 
their  homes  still  further  westward,  and  from  what 
fur-traders,  missionaries,  and  the  young  men  sent  by 
him  among  the  savages  to  learn  their  languages  (of 
whom  Mcolet  himself  w^as  a  notable  example)  had 
heard  that  there  were  comparatively  easy  facilities  of 
communication  by  water  between  the  upper  country 
and  the  St.  Lawrence.  He  knew,  also,  that  the 
proper  time  had  come  to  send  a  trusty  ambassador  to 
these  far-off  nations ;  so,  by  the  end  of  June,  1634, 
l^icolet,  at  Quebec,  was  ready  to  begin  his  eventful 
journey,  at  the  command  of  ChamjDlain. 

"  Opposite  Quebec  lies  the  tongue  of  land  called 
Point  Levi.  One  who,  in  the  summer  of  the  year 
1634,  stood  on  its  margin  and  looked  northward,  across 
the  St.  Lawrence,  would  have  seen,  at  the  distance  of 
a  mile  or  more,  a  range  of  lofty  cliffs,  rising  on  the 
left  into  the  bold  heights  of  Cape  Diamond,  and  on 
the  right  sinking  abruptly  to  the  bed  of  the  tributary 
river  St.  Charles.  Beneath  these  cliffs,  at  the  brink 
of  the  St.  Lawrence,  he  would  have  descried  a  clus- 
ter of  warehouses,  sheds,  and  wooden  tenements. 
Immediately  above,  along  the  verge  of  the  precipice, 
he  could  have  traced  the  outlines  of  a  fortified  work, 
with  a  flag-staff'  and  a  few  small  cannon  to  command 


NICOLET    DISCOVERS   THE   NORTHWEST.  41 

the  river ;  while,  at  the  only  point  where  nature  had 
made  the  heights  accessible,  a  zigzag  path  connected 
the  warehouses  and  the  fort. 

''  l^ow,  embarked  in  the  canoe  of  some  Montagnais 
Indian,  let  him  cross  the  St.  Lawrence,  land  at  the 
pier,  and,  passing  the  cluster  of  buildings,  climb  the 
pathway  up  the  cliff.  Pausing  for  a  rest  and  breath, 
he  might  see,  ascending  and  descending,  the  tenants 
of  this  out-post  of  the  wilderness  :  a  soldier  of  the 
fort,  or  an  officer  in  slouched  hat  and  plume;  a  factor 
of  the  fur  company,  owner  and  sovereign  lord  of  all 
Canada ;  a  party  of  Indians  ;  a  trader  from  the  upper 
country,  one  of  the  precursors  of  that  hardy  race 
of  coureitrs  de  bois,  destined  to  form  a  conspicuous 
and  striking  feature  of  the  Canadian  population  : 
next,  perhaps,  would  appear  a  figure  widely  different. 
The  close,  black  cassock,  the  rosary  hanging  from 
the  waist,  and  the  wide,  black  hat,  looped  up  at  the 
sides,  proclaimed  the  Jesuit."^ 

There  were  in  Canada,  at  this  date,  six  of  these 
Jesuits — Le  Jeune,  Masse,  De  i^oue,  Daniel,  Davost, 
and  Brebeuf ;  to  the  last  three  had  been  assigned  the 
Huron  mission.  On  the  first  day  of  July,  1634,  Dan- 
iel and  Brebeuf  left  Quebec  for  Three  Rivers,  where 
they  were  to  meet  some  Hurons.  Davost  followed  three 
days  after.  About  the  same  time  another  expedition 
started  up  the  St.  Lawrence,  destined  for  the  same 
place,  to  erect  a  fort.  The  Jesuits  were  bound  for 
the  scene  of  their  future  labors  in  the  Huron  country. 
They  were  to  be  accompanied,  at  least  as  far  as  Isle 

^  Parkman's  "  Jesuits  in  North  America,"  pp.  1,  2. 
4 


42  DISCOVERY   OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

des  Allumettes,  by  Mcolet  on  his  way  to  the  "VYinne- 
bagoes.^ 

At  Three  Rivers,  Nicolet  assisted  in  a  manner  in 
the  permanent  foundation  of  the  place,  by  helping  to 
plant  some  of  the  pickets  of  the  fort  just  commenced. 
The  Hurons,  assembled  there  for  the  purposes  of 
trade,  were  ready  to  return  to  their  homes,  and  with 
them  the  missionaries,  as  well  as  Mcolet,  expected  to 
journey  up  the  Ottawa.  The  savages  were  few  in 
number,  and  much  difficulty  was  experienced  in  get- 
ting permits  from  them  to  carry  so  many  white  men, 
as  other  Frenchmen  were  also  of  the  company.  It 
was  past  the  middle  of  July  before  all  were  on  their 
way. 

That  Mcolet  did  not  visit  the  Winnebagoes  pre- 
vious to  1634,  is  reasonably  certain.  Champlain 
would  not,  in  1632,  have  located  upon  his  map  Green 
bay  north  of  Lake  Superior,  as  was  done  by  him  in 
that  year,  had  Nicolet  been  there  before  that  date. 

*This  is  assumed,  although  in  no  account  that  has  been  discov- 
ered is  it  expressly  asserted  that  he  visited  the  tribe  just  men- 
tioned during  this  year.  In  no  record,  contemporaneous  or  later, 
is  the  dateofhisjourney  thither  given,  except  approximately.  The 
fact  of  Nicolet's  having  made  the  journey  to  the  Winnebagoes 
is  first  noticed  by  Vimont,  in  the  Relation  of  1640,  p.  35.  lie 
says:  "  le  visiteray  tout  maintenant  le  coste  du  Sud,  ie  diray  on 
passant  que  le  sieur  Nicolet,  interprete  en  langue  Algonquine 
et  Huronne  pour  Messieurs  de  la  nouuelle  France,  m'a  donne  les 
noras  de  ces  nations  qu'il  a  visitees  luy  mesme  pour  la  pluspart 
dans  leur  pays,  tons  ces  peuples  entendent  I'Algonquin,  excepte 
les  Hurons,  qui  out  vne  langue  a  part,  comme  aussi  les  Ouini- 
pigou  \_Winnehagoes]  ou  gens  de  mer."  The  year  of  Nicolet's 
visit,  it  will  be  noticed,  is  thus  left  undetermined.  The  extract 
only  shows  that  it  must  have  been  made  "  in  or  before  "  1639. 


NICOLET    DISCOVERS    THE   NORTHWEST.  43 

As  he  was  sent  by  Champlain,  the  latter  must  have 
had  knowledge  of  his  going ;  so  that  had  he  started 
in  1632,  or  the  previous  year,  the  governor  would, 
doubtless,  have  awaited  his  return  before  noting 
down,  from  Indian  reports  only,  the  location  of  rivers 
and  lakes  and  the  homes  of  savage  nations  in  those 
distant  regions. 

It  has  already  been  shown,  that  ^N^icolet  probably 
returned  to  Quebec  in  1633,  relinquishing  his  home 
among  the  Mpissing  Indians  that  year.  And  that 
he  did  not  immediately  set  out  at  the  command  of 
Champlain  to  return  up  the  Ottawa  and  journey 
thence  to  the  Winnebagoes,  is  certain ;  as  the  sav- 
ages from  the  west,  then  trading  at  the  site  of  what 
is  now  Three  Rivers,  were  in  no  humor  to  allow  him 
to  retrace  his  steps,  even  had  he  desired  it.^ 

It  may,  therefore,  be  safely  asserted  that,  before  the 
year  1634,  "  those  so  remote  countries,"  lying  to  the 
northward  and  northwestward,  beyond  the  Georgian 
bay  of  Lake  Huron,  had  never  been  seen  by  civilized 
man.  But,  did  Mcolet  visit  those  ulterior  regions  in 
1634,  returning  thence  in  1635  ?  That  these  were 
the  years  of  his  explorations  and  discoveries,  there 
can  be  no  longer  any  doubt.^  After  the  ninth  day 
of  December,  of  the  last-mentioned  year,  his  contin- 
ued presence  upon  the  St.  Lawrence  is  a  matter  of 
record,  up  to  the  day  of  his  death,  except  from  the 
nineteenth  of  March,  1638,  to  the  ninth  of  January, 

^  As  to  the  temper  of  the  Hurons  at  that  date,  see  Parkman's 
"Jesuits  in  North  America,"  p.  51. 

^  The  credit  of  first  advancing  this  idea  is  due  to  Benjamin 
Suite.  See  his  article  entitled  "  Jean  Nicolet,"  in  "  Melanges  D' 
llistoire  et  de  Litterature,"  Ottawa,  187G,  pp.  426,  436. 


44  DISCOVERY   OP   THE   NORTHWEST. 

1639.  These  ten  months  could  not  have  seen  him 
journeying  fro-m  Quebec  to  the  center  of  what  is  now 
"Wisconsin,  and  return  ;  for,  deducting  those  which 
could  not  have  been  traveled  in  because  of  ice  in 
the  rivers  and  lakes,  and  the  remaining  ones  were 
too  few  for  his  voyage,  considering  the  number  of 
tribes  he  is  known  to  have  visited.  Then,  too,  the 
Iroquois  had  penetrated  -the  country  of  the  Algon- 
quins,  rendering  it  totally  unsafe  for  such  explorations, 
even  by  a  Frenchman.  Besides,  it  may  be  stated 
that  Champlain  was  no  longer  among  the  living,  and 
that  with  him  died  the  spirit  of  discovery  which 
alone  could  have  prompted  the  journey. 

Furthermore,  the  marriage  of  Mcolet,  which  had 
previously  taken  place,  militates  against  the  idea  of 
his  having  attempted  any  more  daring  excursions 
among  savage  nations.  As,  therefore,  he  certainly 
traveled  up  the  Ottawa,  as  far  as  Isle  des  Allumettes, 
in  1634,^  and  as  there  is  no  evidence  of  his  having  been 
upon  the  St.  Lawrence  until  near  the  close  of  the  next 
year,  the  conclusion,  from  these  facts  alone,  is  irresisti- 
ble that,  during  this  period,  he  accomplished,  as  here- 
after detailed,  the  exploration  of  the  western  countries ; 
visited  the  Winnebagoes,  as  well  as  several  neighboring 
nations,  and  returned  to  the  St.  Lawrence ;  all  of  which, 
it  is  believed,  could  not  have  been  performed  in  one 
summer.^   But  what,  heretofore,  has  been  a  very  strong 

1  Brebeuf,  Relation  des  Ilurons,  ]035,  p.  30.  He  says:  "lean 
Jsicolet,  en  son  voyage  qu'il  fit  auec  nous  iusques  a  I'lsle,"  etc. ; 
meaning  the  Isle  des  Allumettes,  in  the  Ottawa  river. 

2  Incidents  recorded  in  the  Relations,  and  in  the  parish  church 
register  of  Three  Kivers,  show  Nicolet  to  have  been  upon  the  St. 
Lawrence  from  December  9,  1G35,  to  his  death,  in  1642,  except 


NICOLET   DISCOVERS    THE    NORTHWEST.  45 

probability,  is  now  seen  clearly  to  be  a  fact;  as  it  is 
certainly  known  that  an  agreement  for  peace  was 
made  some  time  before  June,  1635,  between  certain 
Indian  tribes  (Winnebagoes  and  Nez  Perces),  which, 
as  the  account  indicates,  was  brougli  tabout  by  Kico- 
let  in  his  journey  to  the  Far  West/ 

during  the  ten  months  above  mentioned.  It  is  an  unfortunate  fact 
that,  for  those  ten  months,  the  record  of  the  church  just  named 
is  missing.  For  this  information  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Benjamin 
Suite.  Could  the  missing  record  be  found,  it  wouhl  be  seen  to 
"contain,  without  doubt,  some  references  to  Nicolet's  presence  at 
Three  I]ivers.  As  the  Relation  of  1640  mentions  Nicolet's  visit 
to  the  Winnebagoes,  it  could  not  have  been  made  subsequent  to 
1639.  It  has  al'ready  been  shown  how  improbable  it  is  that  his 
journey  was  made  previous  to  1634.  It  only  remains,  there- 
fore, to  give  his  whereabouts  previous  to  1640,  and  subsequent  to 
1635.  His  presence  in  Three  Rivers,  according  to  Mr.  Suite  (see 
Appendix,  I.,  to  this  narrative),  is  noted  in  the  parish  register  in 
December,  1635;  in  May,  1636;  in  November  and  December, 
1637;  in  March,  1638;  in  January,  March,  July,  October,  and 
December,  1639.  .  As  to  mention  of  him  in  the  Relations  during 
those  years,  see  the  next  chapter  of  this  work. 

It  was  the  identification  by  Mr.  Shea,  of  the  Winnebagoes  as 
the  "  Ouinipigou,"  or  "Gens  de  Mer,"  of  the  Relations,  that  en- 
abled him  to  call  the  attention  of  the  public  to  the  extent  of  the 
discoveries  of  Nicolet.  The  claims  of  the  latter,  as  the  discov- 
erer of  the  Northwest,  were  thus,  for  the  first  time,  brought  for- 
ward on  the  page  of  American  history. 

^  "  Le  huictiesme  de  luin,  le  Capitaine  des  Naiz  percez,  ou  de  la 
Nation  du  Castor,  qui  est  a  trois  iournees  de  nous,  vint  nous  de- 
mander  quelqu'vn  de  nos  Fran9ois,  pour  aller  auec  eux  passer 
I'Este  dans  vn  fort  qu'ils  ont  fait,  pour  la  crainte  qu'ils  ont  des 
ASealsiSaenrrhonon,  c'est  a  dire,  des  gens  puants,  qui  ont  rompu  le 
traicte  de  paix,  et  ont  tue  deux  de  leurs  dont  ils  ont  fait  festin." 
— Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1636,  p.  92. 

"  On  the  18th  of  June  [1635],  the  chief  of  the  Nez  Perces,  or 
Beaver  Nation,  which  is  three  days'  journey  from  us  [the  Jesuit 


46  DISCOVERY   OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

The  sufferings  endured  by  all  the  Frenchmen,  ex- 
cept Nicolet,  in  .traveling  up  the  Ottawa,  were  very 
severe.  The  latter  had  been  so  many  years  among 
the  Indians,  was  so  inured  to  the  toils  of  the  wilder- 
ness, that  he  met  every  hardship  with  the  courage, 
the  fortitude,  and  the  strength  of  the  most  robust 
savage.^  E'ot  so  with  the  rest  of  the  party.  ^'Bare- 
foot, lest  their  shoes  should  injure  the  frail  vessel, 
each  crouched  in  his  canoe,  toiling  with  unprac- 
ticed  hands  to  propel  it.  Before  him,  week  after 
week,  he  saw  the  same  lank,  unkempt  hair,  the  same 
tawny  shoulders,  and  long  naked  arms  ceaselessly 
plying  the  paddle."  ^  A  scanty  diet  of  Indian-corn 
gave  them  little  strength  to  assist  in  carrying  canoes 
and  baggage  across  the  numerous  portages.  They 
were  generally  ill-treated  by  the  savages,  and  only 
reached  the  Huron  villages  after  great  peril.  Mcolet 
remained  for  a  time  at  Isle  des  Allumettes,  where  he 
parted  with  Brebeuf. 

To  again  meet  "  the  Algonquins  of  the  Isle  "  must 
have  been  a  pleasure  to  E'icolet;  but  he  could  not 

missionaries,  located  at  the  head  of  Georgian  bay  of  Lake  Hu- 
ron], came  to  demand  of  us  some  one  of  our  Frenchmen  to  go 
with  them  to  pass  the  summer  in  a  fort  which  they  have  made, 
by  reason  of  the  fear  which  they  have  of  the  Aweatlsnaeyirrho- 
von ;  *  that  is  to  say,  of  the  Nation  of  the  Puants  [Wi  nnebagoes], 
who  have  broken  the  treaty  of  peace,  and  have  killed  two  of 
their  men,  of  whom  they  have  made  a  feast." 

*Tean  Nicolet,  en  son  voyage  qu'  il  fit  auec  nous  iupques  a  1'  Isle 
souffrit  aussi  tous  Ics  trauaux  d'  vn  des  plus  robustes  Sauuages.' 
— Brebeuf,  Belation,  1035,  p.  30. 

^Parkman's  "Jesuits  in  North  America,"  p.  53. 

*  The  figure  8  which  occurs  in  this  Avord  iu  the  Belntion  of  ir).T>,  is  supposed 
to  be  equivdlent,  in  English,  to  "  w,"  "we,"  or  "oo." 


NICOLET    DISCOVERS    THE   NORTHWEST.  47 

tarry  long  with  them.  To  the  Huron  villages,  on  the 
borders  of  Georgian  bay,  he  was  to  go  before  enter- 
ing upon  his  journey  to  unexplored  countries.  To 
them  he  must  hasten,  as  to  them  he  was  first  accred- 
ited by  Champlain.  He  had  a  long  distance  to  travel 
from  the  homes  of  that  nation  before  reaching  the 
Winnebagoes.  There  was  need,  therefore,  for  expe- 
dition. He  must  yet  make  his  way  up  the  Ottawa  to 
the  Mattawan,  a  tributary,  and  by  means  of  the  latter 
reach  Lake  Mpissing.  Thence,  he  would  float  down 
French  river  to  Georgian  bay.^  And,  even  after  this 
body  of  water  was  reached,  it  would  require  a  con- 
siderable canoe  navigation,  coasting  along  to  the 
southward,  before  he  could  set  foot  upon  Huron  ter- 
ritory. So  Nicolet  departed  from  the  Algonquins  of 
the  Isle,  and  arrived  safely  at  the  Huron  towns.^  Was 
he  a  stranger  to  this  nation  ?  Had  he,  during  his 
long  sojourn  among  the  I^ipissings,  visited  their  vil- 
lages ?  Certain  it  is  he  could  speak  their  language. 
He  must  have  had,  while  residing  with  the  Algon- 
quins, very  frequent  intercourse  with  Huron  parties, 
who  often  visited   Lake   Nipissing   and   the  Ottawa 

^  The  Mattawan  has  its  source  on  the  very  verge  of  Lake  Nipis- 
sing,  so  that  it  was  easy  to  make  a  "  portage  "  there  to  reach  the 
lake.  The  Indians,  and  afterward  the  French,  passed  by  the  Mat- 
tawan, Mattouane,  or  Mattawin  ("the  residence  of  the  beaver"), 
went  over  the  small  space  of  land  called  the  "  portage,"  that  ex- 
ists between  the  two  waters,  floated  on  Lake  Nipissing,  and  fol- 
lowed the  French  river,  which  flows  directly  out  of  that  lake  to 
the  Georgian  bay. 

A  "  portage  "  is  a  place,  as  is  well  known,  where  parties  had 
to  "  port "  their  baggage  in  order  to  reach  the  next  navigable 
water. 

^Vimont,  Relation,  1643,  p.  3. 


48  DISCOVERY    OF    THE   NORTHWEST. 

river  for  purposes  of  trade.^  But  why  was  Xicolet 
accredited  by  Champlain  to  the  Hurons  at  all  ?  Was 
not  the  St.  Lawrence  visited  yearly  by  their  traders  ? 
It  could  not  have  been,  therefore,  to  establish  a  com- 
merce with  them.  Neither  could  it  have  been  to  ex- 
plore their  country  ;  for  the  voyageur,  the  fur-trader, 
the  missionary,  even  Champlain  himself,  as  we  have 
seen,  had  already  been  at  their  towns.  Was  the  re- 
fusal, a  year  previous,  of  their  trading-parties  at 
Quebec  to  take  the  Jesuits  to  their  homes  the  cause 
of  i^icolet's  being  sent  to  smoke  the  pipe  of  peace 
with  their  chiefs  ?  This  could  not  have  been  the 
reason,  else  the  missionaries  would  not  have  preceded 
him  from  the  Isle  des  Allumettes.  He  certainly  had 
to  travel  many  miles  out  of  his  way  in  going  from  the 
Ottawa  to  the  Winnebagoes  by  way  of  the  Huron  vil- 
lages. His  object  was,  evidently,  to  inform  the  Hu- 
rons that  the  governor  of  Canada,  was  anxious  to  have 
amicable  relations  established  between  them  and  the 
Winnebagoes,  and  to  obtain  a  few  of  the  nation  to 
a'icompany  him  upon  his  mission  of  peace.^ 

*  "  Sieur  Nicolet,  interpreter  en  langue  Algonquine  et  Huron- 
ne,"  etc. — Vimont,  Relation,  1C40,  p.  35. 

The  Hurons  and  Nipissings  were,  at  that  date,  great  friends, 
having  constant  intercourse,  according  to  all  accounts  of  those 
days. 

2  "  The  People  of  the  Sea  " — that  is,  the  Winnebagoes — were  fre- 
quently at  war  with  the  Hurons,  Nez  Perces,  and  other  nations  on 
the  Georgian  bay,  which  fact  was  well  known  to  the  governor  of 
Tanada.  Now,  the  good  offices  of  Nicolet  were  to  be  interposed 
to  bring  about  a  reconciliation  between  these  nations.  He,  it 
is  believed,  was  also  to  carry  out  Champlain's  policy  of  making 
the  Indian  tribes  the  allies  of  the  French.  Vimont  {Relation, 
1643,  p.  3)  says,  he  was  chosen  to  make  a  journey  to  the  Winne- 


NICOLET   DISCOVERS   THE   NORTHWEST.  49 

It  was  now  that  I^icolet,  after  all  ceremonies  and 
"  talks  "  with,  the  Ilurons  were  ended,  began  prepa- 
rations for  his  voyage  to  the  Winnebagoes.  He  was 
to  strike  boldly  into  undiscovered  regions.  He  was 
to  encounter  savage  nations  never  before  visited.  It 
was,  in  reality,  the  beginning  of  a  voyage  full  of  dan- 
gers— one  that  would  require  great  tact,  great  cour- 
age, and  constant  facing  of  difficulties.  No  one, 
however,  understood  better  the  savage  character  than 
he ;  no  Frenchman  was  more  fertile  of  resources. 
From  the  St.  Lawrence,  he  had  brought  presents  to 
conciliate  the  Indian  tribes  which  he  would  meet. 
Seven  Ilurons  were  to  accompany  him.^  Before  him  lay 
great  lakes  ;  around  him,  when  on  land,  would  frown 
dark  forests.  A  birch-bark  canoe  was  to  bear  the  first 
white  man  along  the  northern  shore  of  Lake  Huron, 
and  upon  Saint  Mary's  strait^  to  the  falls — "  Sault 
Sainte  Marie ;"  many.miles  on  Lake  Michigan ;  thenco, 
up  Green  bay  to  the  homes  of  the  Winnebagoes  :^  and 

bagoes  and  treat  for  peace  with  them  and  with  the  Hurons ;  show- 
ing, it  is  suggested,  that  it  was  not  only  to  bring  about  a  peace 
leiween  the  two  tribes,  hut  to  attach  them  both  to  French  interests. 
The  words  of  Vimont  are  these: 

"  Pendant  qu'il  exer^oit  cette  charge,  il  \_Nicolet']  fut  delegue 
pour  faire  vn  voyage  en  la  nation  appellee  des  Gens  de  Mer,  et 
traitter  la  paix  auec  eux  et  les  Hurons,  desquelsil  sont  esloignes, 
tirant,  vers  I'Oiiest,  d'enuiron  trois  cents  lieues." 

^  "  I'l  l^Nicolet']  s'embarque  au  pays  des  Hurons  auec  sept  Sauu- 
ages." — Vimont,  Relation,  1643,  p.  3. 

2  Saint  Mary's  strait  separates  the  Dominion  of  Canada  from 
the  upper  peninsula  of  Michigan,  and  connects  Lake  Superior 
with  Lake  Huron. 

^  The  route  taken  by  Nicolet,  from  the  mouth  of  French  river, 
5 


50  DISCOVERY   OF    THE   NORTHWEST. 

that  canoe  was  to  lead  tlie  van  of  a  mighty  fleet 
indeed,  as  the  commerce  of  the  upper  lakes  can 
testify.     "With  him,  he  had  a  nnmher  of  presents. 

What  nations  were  encountered  hy  him  on  the  way 
to  "  the  People  of  the  Sea,"  from  the  Huron  vil- 
lages ?  Three — all  of  Algonquin  lineage — occupied 
the  shores  of  the  Georgian  hay,  hefore  the  mouth  of 
French  river  had  been  reached.  Concerning  them, 
little  is  known,  except  their  names.^  Passing  the 
river  which  flows  from  Lake  Nipissing,  I^icolet 
"  upon  the  same  shores  of  this  fresh-water  sea,"  that 
is,  upon  the  shores  of  Lake  Huron,  came  next  to  "  the 
l!^ation  of  Beavers,"  ^  whose  hunting-grounds  were 
northward  of  the  Manitoulin  islands.*     This  nation 

in  journeying  toward  the  Winnebagoes,  is  sufficiently  indicated 
by  (1)  noting  that,  in  mentioning  the  various  tribes  visited  by 
him,  Nicolet  probably  gave  their  names,  except  the  Ottavvas,  in 
the  order  in  which  he  met  them  ;  and  (2)  by  calculating  his  time 
as  more  limited  on  his  return  than  on  his  outward  trip,  because 
of  his  desire  to  descend  the  Ottawa  with  the  annual  flotilla  of 
Huron  canoes,- which  would  reach  the  St.  Lawrence  in  July,  163.). 

^  The  Ouasouarim,  the  Outchougai,  and  the  Atchiligoiian. — 
Vimont,  Relation,  1G40,  p.  34. 

2  Called  Amikoiiai  {Rel,  1640,  p.  34),  from  Amik  or  AmiTcou — a 
beaver. 

^  The  Manitoulin  islands  stretch  from  east  to  west  along  tlie 
north  shores  of  Lake  Huron,  and  consist  chiefly  of  the  Groat 
Manitoulin  or  Sacred  Isle,  Little  Manitoulin  or  Cockburn,  and 
Drummond.  Great  Manitoulin  is  eighty  miles  long  by  twenty 
broad.  Little  Manitoulin  has  a  diameter  of  about  seven  miles. 
Drummond  is  twenty-four  miles  long,  with  a  breadth  vary- 
ing from  two  to  twelve  miles.  It  is  separated  from  the  American 
shore,  on  the  west,  by  a  strait  called  the  True  Detour,  which  is 
scarcely  one  mile  wide,  and  forms  the  principal  i)ussage  for  ves- 
sels proceeding  to  Lake  Superior. 


NICOLET   DISCOVERS   THE   NORTHWEST.  51 

was  afterward  esteemed  among  the  most  noble 
of  those  of  Canada.  They  were  supposed  to  he  de- 
scended from  the  Great  Beaver,  which  was,  next  to 
the  Great  Hare,  their  principal  divinity.  They  inhab- 
ited originally  the  Beaver  islands,  in  Lake  Michigan ; 
afterward  the  Manitoulin  islands;  then  they  removed 
to  the  main-land,  where  they  were  found  by  E^icolet. 
Farther  on,  but  still  upon  the  margin  of  the  great 
lake,  was  found  another  tribe.^  This  people,  and  the 
Amikoiiai,  were  of  the  Algonquin  family,  and  their 
language  was  not  difficult  to  be  understood  by  ]N"ico- 
let.  Entering,  finally,  St.  Mary's  strait,  his  canoes 
were  urged  onward  for  a  number  of  miles,  until  the 
falls — Sault  de  Sainte  Marie  ^ — were  reached  :  and 
there  stood  ^icolet,  the  first  white  man  to  set  foot 
upon  any  portion  of  what  was,  more  than  a  century 
and  a  half  after,  called  "  the  territory  northwest  of 
the  river  Ohio,"'"  now  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  II- 

^  The  Oumisagai. — Vimont,  Hclatlon,  1G40,  p.  34. 

2  These  falls  are  tlistinctly  marked  on  Champlain's  map  of 
1632;  and  on  that  of  Du  Creux  of  1G60. 

^  In  giving  Xicolet  this  credit,  it  is  necessary  to  state,  that  the 
governor  of  Canada,  in  1688,  claimed  that  honor  for  Champlain 
(N.  Y.  Col.  Doc,  Vol.  IX  ,  p.  378).     He  says: 

"In  the  years  1611  and  1612,  he  [Champlain]  ascended  the 
Grand  river  [Ottawa]  as  far  as  Lake  Huron,  called  the  Fresh  sea 
[La  Mer  Douce] ;  he  v^^ent  thence  to  the  Petun  [Tobacco]  Na- 
tion, next  to  the  Neutral  Nation  and  to  the  Macoutins  [Mascou- 
tins],  who  were  then  residing  near  the  place  called  the  Sakiman 
[that  part  of  the  present  State  of  Michigan  lying  between  the 
head  of  Lake  Erie  and  Saginaw  bay,  on  Lake  Huron];  from  that 
he  went  to  the  Algonquin  and  Huron  tribes,  at  war  against  the 
Iroquois  [Five  Nations].  He  passed  by  places  lie  has,  himself, 
described  in  his  book  [Los  Voyages  De  La  Novvelle  France,  etc, 
1632],  which  are  no  other  than  Detroit  [i.  e.,  "  the  straight,"  now 


62  DISCOVERY   OP   THE   NORTHWEST. 

linois,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin,  and  so  much  of 
Minnesota  as  lies  east  of  the  Mississippi  river. 

called  Detroit  river]  and  Lake  Erie." — Mem.  of  M.  de  Denonville, 
May  8,  1G88. 

The  reader  is  referred  to  Champlain's  Map  of  1G32,  and  to  "  his 
book"  of  the  same  date,  for  a  complete  refutation  of  the  as- 
sertion as  to  his  visiting,  at  any  time  before  that  year,  the 
Mascoutins.  In  1632,  Champlain,  as  shown  by  his  map  of  that 
year,  had  no  knowledge  whatever  of  Lake  Erie  or  Lake  St. 
Clair,  nor  had  he  i)reviously  been  sd  far  west  as  Detroit  river. 
It  is,  of  course,  well  known,  that  he  did  not  go  west  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  during  that  year  or  subsequent  to  that  date.  Locat- 
ing the  Mascoutins  "  near  the  place  called  the  Sakiman,"  is  as 
erroneous  as  that  Champlain  ever  visited  those  savages.  The 
reported  distance  between  him  when  at  the  most  westerly  point 
of  his  journeyings  and  the  Mascoutins  is  shown  by  himself; 
"After  having  visited  these  people  [the  Tobacco  Nation,  in  De- 
cember, 1615]  we  left  the  place  and  came  to  a  nation  of  Indians 
which  we  have  named  the  Standing  Hair  [Ottawas],  who  were 
very  much  rejoiced  to  see  us  again  [he  had  met  them  previously 
on  the  Ottawa  river],  with  whom  also  we  formed  a  friendship, 
and  who,  in  like  manner,  promised  to  come  and  find  us  and  see 
us  at  the  said  habitation.  At  this  place  it  seems  to  me  appro- 
priate to  give  a  description  of  their  country,  manners,  and  modes 
of  action.  In  the  first  place,  they  make  war  upon  another  nation 
of  Indians,  called  the  Assistagueronon,  which  means  nation  of 
fire  [Mascoutins],  ten  days  distant  from  them," — Voyages,  1632, 
L,  p.  262  [272]. 

Upon  his  map  of  1632,  Champlain  speaks  of  the  "  discoveries  " 
made  by  him  "  in  the  year  1614  and  1615,  until  in  the  year  1618  " 
— "  of  this  great  lake  [Huron],  and  of  all  the  lands  from  theSauIt 
St.  Louis  [the  rapids  in  the  St.  Lawrence];" —  but  he  nowhere 
intimates  that  he  had  made  discoveries  icest  of  that  lake.  It  is, 
therefore,  certain  that  the  first  white  man  who  ever  saw  or  ex- 
plored any  portion  of  the  territory  forming  the  present  State  of 
Michigan  was  John  Nicolet — not  Champlain.  Compare  Park- 
man's  "  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World,"  Chap.  XIV.,  and 
map  illustrative  of  the  text. 


NICOLET   DISCOVERS   THE   NORTHWEST.  63 

Among  "  the  People  of  the  Falls,"  ^  at  their  principal 
village,  on  the  south  side  of  the  strait,  at  the  foot  of 
the  rapids,^  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Michigan,^  I^ico- 
let  and  his  seven  Hurons  rested  from  the  fatigues  of 
their  weary  voyage.^  They  were  still  with  Algonquins. 

^  Their  name,  as  stated  by  Nicolet  and  preserved  in  the  Relation 
of  1G40,  was  Baouichtigouin ;  given  in  the  Relation  of  1642,  as 
Paiioitigoiieieuhak — "inhabitants  of  the  falls;"  in  the  Relation 
of  1048,  as  Paouitagoung — "  nation  of  the  Sault;"  on  Du  Creux' 
map  of  1660,  "  PasitigSecii;"  and  they  were  sometimes  known  as 
Paouitingouach-irini — "  the  men  of  the  shallow  cataract."  They 
were  estimated,  in  1671,  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  souls.  They 
then  united  with  other  kindred  nations. 

By  the  French,  these  tribes,  collectively,  were  called  Sauteurs; 
but  they  were  known  to  the  Iroquois  as  Estiaghicks,  or  Stiagig- 
roone — the  termination,  room,  meaning  men,  being  applied  to  In- 
dians of  the  Algonquin  family.  They  were  designated  by  the 
iSioux  as  Raratwaus  or  "  people  of  the  fills."  They  were  the  an- 
cestors of  the  modern  Otchipwes,  or  Ojibwas  (Chippewas). 

^  That  this  was  the.location  in  1641  is  certain.  Shea's  Catholic 
Missions,  p.  184.  In  1669,  it  was,  probably,  still  at  the  foot  of  the 
rapids,  on  the  southern  side.  Id.,  p.  361.  Besides,  when  the 
missionaries  first  visited  the  Sault,  they  were  informed  that  the 
place  had  been  occupied  for  a  long  period.  The  falls  are  cor- 
rectly marked  upon  Champlain's  map  of  1632. 

^  The  earliest  delineation,  to  any  extent,  of  the  present  State 
of  Michigan,  is  that  to  be  found  on  Du  Creux'  Map  of  1630, 
where  the  two  peninsulas  are  very  Avell  represented  in  outline. 

^  The  names  of  the  tribes  thus  far  visited  by  Nicolet,  and  their 
relative  positions,  are  shown  in  the  following  from  Vimont  {Re- 
lation, 1640,  p.  34),  except  that  the  "  cheueux  releuez  "  were  not 
called  upon  by  him  until  his  return : 

"  I'ay  ditqu'd  I'entree  du  premier  de  ces  Lacs  se  rencontrentles 
Hurons  ;  les  quittans  pour  voguer  plus  haut  dans  le  lac,  on  truue 
au  Nord  les  Ouasouarim,  plus  haut  sont  les  Outchougai,  plus  haut 
encore  a  I'embouchure  du  fleuue  qui  vient  du  Lac  Nipisin  sont 
les  Atchiligoiian.     Au  dela  sur  les  mesmes  riues  de  ceste  mer 


54  DISCOVERY   OF   THE  NORTHWEST. 

From  Lake  Huron  they  had  entered  upon  one  of  the 
channels  of  the  magnificent  water-way  leading  out 
from  Lake  Suj)erior,  and  threaded  their  way,  now 
through  narrow  rapids,  now  across  (as  it  were)  little 
lakes,  now  around  beautiful  islands,  to  within  fifteen 
miles  of  the  largest  expanse  of  fresh  water  on  the 
globe — stretching  away  in  its  grandeur  to  the  west- 
ward, a  distance  of  full  four  hundred  miles.^  Nico- 
let  saw  beyond  him  the  falls;  around  him  clusters  of 
wigwams,  which  two  centuries  and  a  half  have 
changed  into  public  buildings  and  private  resi- 
dences, into  churches  and  warehouses,  into  offices  and 
stores — in  short,  into  a  pleasantly-situated  American 
village,^  frequently  visited  by  steamboats  carrying 
valuable  freight  and  crowded  with  parties  of  pleas- 
ure. The  portage  around  the  falls,  where,  in  early 
times,  the  Indian  carried  his  birch-bark  canoe,  has 
given  place  to  an  excellent  canal.  Such  are  the 
changes  which  ''  the  course  of  empire  "  continually 

douce  sont  les  Amikoiiai,  ou  la  nation  du  Castor,  au  Sud  desquels 
est  vne  Isle  dans  ceste  mer  douce  longue  d'enuiron  trente 
lieues  habitee  des  Outaouan,  ce  sont  peuples  venus  de  la  nation 
des  cheueux  releuez.  Apres  les  Amikouai  sur  les  mesmes  riues 
du  grand  lac  sont  les  Oumisagai,  qu'on  passe  pour  venir  a  Baou- 
ichtigouin,  c'est  a  dire,  a  la  nation  des  gens  du  Sault,  pource 
qu'en  effect  il  y  a  vn  Sault  qui  seiette  en  cetendroit  dans  la  mer 
douce." 

^  Lake  Superior  is  distinctly  marked  on  Champlain's  map  of 
1G32,  where  it  appears  as  "  Grand  Lac."  Was  it  seen  by  Nicolet? 
This  is  a  question  which  will  probably  never  be  answered  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  historian. 

^  Sault  Sainte  Marie  (pronounced  soo-saint-mdry),  county-seat  of 
Chippewa  county,  Michigan,  fifteen  miles  below  the  outlet  of 
Lake  Superior. 


NICOLET   DISCOVERS    THE   NORTHWEST.  55 

brings   to    view   in  "  the  vast,  illimitable,  changing 
west." 

^Nicolet  tarried  among  ''  the  People  of  the  Falls/' 
probably,  but  a  brief  period.  His  voyage,  after  leav- 
ing them,  must  have  been  to  him  one  of  great  inter- 
est. He  returned  down  the  strait,  passing,  it  is 
thought,  through  the  western  "detour"  to  Macki- 
naw.^ 'Not  very  many  miles  brought  him  to  ''  the 
second  fresh- water  sea,"  Lake  Michigan.'^  He  fs 
fairly  entitled  to  the  honor  of  its  discovery ;  for  no 
white  man  had  ever  before  looked  out  upon  its  broad 
expanse.  Mcolet  was  soon  gliding  along  upon  the 
clear  waters  of  this  out-of-the-Avay  link  in  the  great 
chain  of  lakes.  The  bold  Frenchman  fearlessly 
threaded  his  way  along  its  northern  shore,  frequently 
stopping  upon  what  is  now  known  as  "  the  upper 
peninsula"  of  Michigan,  until  the  bay  of  J^oquet^ 

^  The  Straits  of  Mackinaw  connect  Lake  Michigan  with  Lake 
Huron.  Of  the  word  "  Mackinaw,"  there  are  many  synonyms 
to  be  found  upon  the  pages  of  American  history:  Mackinac, 
MichiUmakinaw,  Michillimakinac,  Michilimakina,  Michiliaki- 
mawk,  Michilinaaquina,  Miscilemackina,  Miselimackinack,  Mis- 
ilemakinak,  Missilimakina,  Missilimakinac,  Missilimakinak,  Mis- 
silimaquina,  Missiliniaquinak,  etc, 

^Machihiganing  was  the  Indian  name;  called  by  the  French, 
at  an  early  day,  Mitchiganon, — sometimes  the  Lake  of  the  Illi- 
nois, Lake  St.  Joseph,  or  Lake  Dauphin.  I  know  of  no  earlier 
representation  of  this  hike  than  that  on  Du  Creux'  map  of 
1660.  It  is  there  named  the  "  Magnus  Lacus  Algonquinorum, 
seu  Lacus  Foetetium  [Foetentium]."  This  is  equivalent  to  Great 
Algonquin  Lake,  or  Lake  of  the  Puants;  that  is,  Winnebago 
Lake.  On  a  map  by  Joliet,  recently  published  by  Gabriel  Gravier, 
it  is  called  "  Lac  des  Illinois  ou  Missihiganin." 

^  Bay  du  Noquet,  or  iS^oque,  That  the  "  small  lake"  visited  by 
Nicolet  w^as,  in  fact,  this  bay,  is  rendered  probable  by  the  phrase- 


56  DISCOVERY   OF    THE   NORTHWEST. 

was  reached,  which  is,  in  reality,  a  northern  arm  of 
Green  hay.^  Here,  upon  its  northern  border,  he  vis- 
ited another  Algonquin  tribe  ;^  also  one  living  to  the 
northward  of  this  "  small  lake."^  These  tribes  never 
navigated  those  waters  any  great  distance,  but  lived 
upon  the  fruits  of  the  earth.''  Making  his  way  up 
Green  bay,  he  finally  reached  the  Menomonee  river, 
its  principal  northern  affluent.^ 

ology  employed  by  Vimont  in  the  Relation  of  1640,  p.  35.  He 
says:  "  Passing  this  small  lake  [from  the  Sault  Sainte  Marie], 
we  enter  into  the  second  fresh-water  sea  [Lake  Michigan  and 
Green  bay]."  It  is  true  Vimont  speaks  of  "  the  small  lake"  as 
lying  "  beyond  the  falls;"  but  his  meaning  is,  "  nearer  the  Win- 
nebagoes."  If  taken  literally,  his  words  would  indicate  a  lake 
further  up  the  strait,  above  the  Sault  Sainte  Marie,  meaning 
Lake  Superior,  which,  of  course,  would  not  answer  the  descrip- 
tion of  a  small  lake.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  mission- 
ary was  writing  at  his  home  upon  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  was 
giving  his  description  from  his  standpoint, 

^  Synonyms :  La  Baye  des  Eaux  Puantes,  La  Baye,  Enitajghe 
(Iroquois),  Bale  des  Puants,  La  Grande  Bale,  Bay  des  Puants. 

2  Called  the  Roquai,  by  Vimont,  in  the  Relation  of  1G40,  p.  34 — 
probably  the  Noquets  —afterwards  classed  with  the  Chippewas. 

'Called  the  Mantoue  in  the  Relation  just  cited.  They  were 
probably  the  Nantoue  of  the  Relation  of  1671,  or  Mantoueouee 
of  the  map  attached  thereto.  They  are  mentioned,  at  that  date, 
as  living  near  the  Foxes.  In  the  Relation  of  1673,  they  are  desig- 
nated as  the  Makoueoue,  still  residing  near  the  Foxes. 

*"Au  dela  de  ce  Sault  on  trouue  le  petit  lac,  sur  les  bords  du- 
quel  du  coste  du  Nord  sont  les  Roquai.  Au  Nord  de  cenx-cy 
sont  Mantoue,  ces  peuples  ne  naui<rent  guiere,  viuans  des  fruicts 
de  la  terre." — Vimont,  Relation,  1640,  pp.  34,  35. 

*The  Menomonee  river  forms  a  part  of  the  northeastern 
boundary  of  Wisconsin,  running  in  a  southeasterly  direction 
between  this  state  and  Michigan,  and  emptying  into  Green  bay 
on  the  northwest  side.     The  earliest  location,  on  a  map,  of  a 


NICOLET   DISCOVERS   THE   NORTHWEST.  57 

In  the  valley  of  the  Menomonee,  Nicolet  met 
a  populous  tribe  of  Indians — the  Menomonees.^  To 
his  surprise,  no  doubt,  he  found  they  were  of  a  lighter 
complexion  than  any  other  savages  he  had  ever  seen. 
Their  language  was  difficult  to  understand,  yet  it 
showed  the  nation  to  be  of  the  Algonquin  stock.  Their 
food  was  largely  of  wild  rice,  which  grew  in  great 
abundance  in  their  country.  They  were  adepts  in 
fishing,  and  hunted,  with  skill,  the  game  which 
abounded  in  the  forests.  They  had  their  homes  and 
hunting  grounds  upon  the  stream  which  still  bears 
their  name.^ 

Nicolet  soon  resumed  his  journey  toward  the  Win- 
nebagoes,  who  had  already  been  made  aware  of  his 
near  approach  ;  for  he  had  sent  forward  one  of  his 

Menomonee  village,  is  that  given  by  Charlevoix  on  his  "  Carte 
des  Lacs  du  Canada,"  accompanying  liis  "  Higtoire  et  Description 
Generale  de  la  Nouvelle  France,"  Vol.  I.,  Paris,  1744.  The  vil- 
lage ('des  Malonines")  is  placed  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  on 
what  is  now  the  Michigan  side  of  the  stream. 

^  Synonyms:  Maroumine,  Oumalouminek,  Oumaominiecs,  Mal- 
hominies, — meaning,  in  Algonquin,  wild  rice  (Zizania  aquatica  of 
Linnseus).  The  French  called  this  grain  wild  oats — folles  avoine ; 
hence  they  gave  the  name  of  Les  Folles  Avoine  to  the  Me- 
nomonees. 

"  Passant  ce  plus  petit  lac,  on  entre  dans  la  seconde  mer  douce, 
sur  les  riues  de  laquelle  sont  les  Maroumine." — Vimont,  Rela- 
tion, 1640,  p.  35. 

2 1  have  drawn,  for  this  description  of  the  Menomonees,  upon 
the  earliest  accounts  preserved  of  them  ;  but  these  are  of  dates 
some  years  subsequent  to  Nicolet's  visit.  (Compare  Marquette's 
account  in  his  published  narrative,  by  Shea.)  Vimont  seems  not 
to  have  derived  any  knowledge  of  them,  from  Nicolet,  beside  the 
simple  fact  of  his  having  visited  them;  at  least,  he  says  nothing 
further  in  the  Relation  of  1 640. 


58  DISCOVERY   OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

Hurons  to  carry  the  news  of  his  coming  and  of  his 
mission  of  peace.  The  messenger  and  his  message 
were  well  received.  The  Winnebagoes  dispatched 
several  of  their  young  men  to  meet  the  "  wonderful 
man."  They  go  to  him— they  escort  him — they  carry 
his  baggage.^  He  was  clothed  in  a  large  garment  of 
Chinese  damask,  sprinkled  with  flowers  and  birds  of 
different  colors.^     But,  why  thus  attired  ?     Possibly, 

1 "  Two  days'  journey  from  this  tribe  [the  Winnebagoes],  he 
sent  one  of  his  savages,"  etc. — Vimont,  Relation,  1643,  p.  3.  This 
was  just  the  distance  from  the  Menomonees.  Du  Creux,  al- 
though following  the  Helalion  of  1G43,  makes  Nicolet  an  ambas- 
sador of  the  Hurons,  for  he  says  (Hist.  Canada,  p.  360):  "  When 
he  [Nicolet]  was  two  days  distant  [from  the  Winnebagoes],  he 
sent  forward  one  of  his  own  company  to  make  known  to  the  na- 
tion to  which  they  were  going,  that  a  European  ambassador  was 
approaching  with  gifts,  who,  in  behalf  of  tlie  Hurons,  desired  to 
secure  their  friendship."  But  the  following  is  the  account  of  Vi- 
mont (Relation,  1643,  p.  3),  from  the  time  of  Nicolet's  departure 
from  the  Huron  villages  to  his  being  met  by  the  young  men  of 
the  Winnebagoes: 

"  lis  [^Nicokt  and  his  seven  Hurons']  passerent  par  quantite  de 
petites  nations,  en  allant  eten  reuenant;  lors  qu'ils  y  arriuoient, 
lis  fichoient  deux  bastons  en  terre,  auquel  ils  pendoient  des  pre- 
sens,  afin  d'oster  a  ces  peuples  la  pensee  de  les  prendre  pour  en- 
nemis  et  de  les  massacrer.  A  deux  iournees  de  cette  nation,  11 
enuoya  vn  de  cos  Sauuages  porter  la  nouuelle  de  la  paix,  laquelle 
fut  bien  receue,  nommement  quand  on  entendit  que  c'estoit  vn 
European  qui  portoit  la  parole.  On  depescha  plusieurs  ieunes 
gens  pour  aller  au  deuant  du  Manitouiriniou,  c'est  a  dire  de 
riiomme  merueilleux ;  on  y  vient  on  le  conduit,  on  porte  tout 
son  bagage." 

'^Compare  Parkman's  "  Discovery  of  the  Great  West,"  p.  xx. 
"  11  [^Nicolet']  estoit  reuestu  d'vno  grande  robe  de  damas  de  la 
Chine,  toute  parsemee  de  fleurs  et  d'oyseaux  de  diuerses  coul- 
eurs." — Vimont,  Relation,  1G43,  p.  3. 


NICOLET   DISCOVERS   THE   NORTHWEST.  59 

he  liad  reached  the  far  east ;  he  was,  really,  in  what 
is  now  the  State  of  Wisconsin.^  Possibly,  a  party  of 
mandarins  would  soon  greet  him  and  welcome  him  to 
Cathay.  And  this  robe — this  dress  of  ceremony — 
was  brought  all  the  way  from  Quebec,  doubtless,  with 

^  Wisconsin  takes  its  name  from  its  principal  river,  which 
drains  an  extensive  portion  of  its  surface.  It  rises  in  Lake  Vieux 
Desert  (which  is  partly  in  Michigan  and  partly  in  Wisconsin), 
flows  generally  a  south  course  to  Portage,  in  what  is  now  Colum- 
bia county,  where  ib  turns  to  the  southwest,  and,  after  a  further 
course  of  one  hundred  and  eighteen  miles,  with  a  rapid  current, 
reaches  the  Mississippi  river,  four  miles  below  Prairie  du  Chien. 
Its  entire  length  is  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  descend- 
ing, in  that  distance,  a  little  more  than  one  thousand  feet. 
Along  the  lower  portion  of  the  stream  are  the  high  lands  or 
river  hills.  Some  of  these  hills  present  high  and  precipitous 
faces  towards  the  water.  Others  terminate  in  knobs.  The  name 
is  supposed  to  have  been  taken  from  this  feature;  the  word 
being  derived  from  mis-si,  great,  and  os-sin,  a,  stone  or  rock. 

Compare  Shea's  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi,  pp.  6 
(note)  and  268;  Foster's  Mississippi  Valley,  p.  2  (note);  School- 
craft's Thirty  Years  with  ike  Indian  Tribes,  p.  220  and  note. 

Two  definitions  of  the  word  are  current — as  widely  differing 
from  each  other  as  from  the  one  just  given.  (See  Wis.  Hist.  Soc. 
Coll.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  Ill,  and  Webster's  Die,  Unabridged,  p.  1632.) 
The  first — "  the  gathering  of  the  waters  "— rhas  no  corresponding 
words  in  Algonquin  at  all  resembling  the  name ;  the  same  may 
be  said  of  the  second — "  wild  rushing  channel."  (See  Otchipwe 
Die.  of  Rev.  F.  Baraga.) 

Since  first  used  by  the  French,  the  word  "  Wisconsin"  has  un- 
dergone considerable  change.  On  the  map  by  Joliet,  recently 
brought  to  light  by  Gravier,  it  is  given  as  "  Miskonsing."  In 
Marquette's  journal,  published  by  Thevenot,  in  Paris,  1681,  it  is 
noted  as  the  "  Meskousing."  It  appeared  there  for  the  first  time 
in  print,  Hennepin,  in  1683,  wrote  "Onisconsin  "  and  "  Miscon- 
sin;"  Charlevoix,  1743,  "Ouisconsing;"  Carver,  1766,  "  Ouiscon- 
sin"  (English — "  Wiscorisin"):since  which  last  mentioned  date, 
the  orthography  has  been  uniform. 


60  DISCOVERY   OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

a  view  to  such  contingency.  As  soon  as  he  came  in 
sight,  all  the  women  and  children  fled,  seeing  a  man 
carrying  thunder  in  his  two  hands  ;  for  thus  it  was 
they  called  his  pistols,  which  he  discharged  on  his 
right  and  on  his  left.^  He  was  a  manito !  Mcolet's 
journey  was,  for  the  present,  at  an  end.  He  and  his 
Huron's  "  rested  from  their  lahors,"  among  the  Win- 
nehagoes,^  who  were  located  around  the  head  of 
Green   bay,^   contiguous   to   the  point  where   it  re- 

^ "  Si  tost  qu'on  I'apperceut  toutes  les  femmes  et  les  enfans 
s'enfmrent,  voyant  vn  homme  porter  le  tonnerre  en  ses  deux 
mains  (c  est  ainsi  qu'ils  nommoient  deux  pistolets  qu'il  tenoit)." 
— Vimont,  lielation,  1643,  p.  3.* 

Du  Creux  (Hist.  Canada,  p.  360)  has  this  rendering  of  Vimont's 
language:  "  He  [Xicolet]  carried  in  each  hand  a  small  pistol. 
When  he  had  discharged  these  (for  he  must  have  done  this, 
though  the  French  author  does  not  mention  the  fact),  the  more 
timid  persons,  boys  and  women,  betook  themselves  to  flight,  to 
escape  as  quickly  as  possible  from  a  man  who  (they  said)  car- 
ried the  thunder  in  both  his  hands."  And  thus  Parkman  ("  Dis- 
covery of  the  Great  West,"  p.  xx.) :  "  [Nicolet]  advanced  to  meet 
the  expectant  crowd  with  a  pistol  in  each  hand.  The  squaws 
and  children  fled,  screaming  that  it  was  a  manito,  or  spirit, 
armed  with  thunder  and  lightning." 

2 Synonyms:  Ouinipigou,  Ouinbegouc,  Ouinipegouc,  Ouenibe- 
goutz — Gens  de  Mer,  Gens  de  Eaux  de  Mer— Des  Puans,  Des 
Puants,  La  Nation  des  Puans,  La  Nation  des  Puants,  Des  Gens 
Puants. 

By  the  Hurons,  this  nation  was  known  as  A8eatsi8aenrrhonon 
{Relation,  1636,  p.  92);  by  the  Sioux,  as  Ontonkah;  but  they 
called  themselves  Otchagras,  Ilochungara,  Ochungarand,  or 
Horoji. 

^Champlain's  map  of  1632  gives  them  that  location.  La  Jeune 
{Relation,  1639,  p.  55)  approximates  their  locality  thus: 

.  .  .  *'  Nous  auons  aussi  pense  d'appliquer  quelques-vns  a  la 
connoissance  de  nouuelles  langues.  Nous  iettions  les  yeux  sur 
trois  autres  des  Peuples  plus  voisins:  sur  celle  des  Algonquains, 


NICOLET   DISCOVERS   THE   NORTHWEST.  61 

ceives  the  waters  of  Fox  river.^  ]N"icolet  found 
the  "Winnebagoes  a   numerous   and   sedentary   peo- 

espars  cfe  tous  costez,  et  au  Midy,  et  au  Sfeptentrion  de  nostre 
grand  Lac ;  sur  celle  de  la  Nation  neutre,  qui  est  vne  maistresse 
porte  pour  les  pais  meridionaux,  et  sur  celle  de  la  Nation  des 
Puants,  qui  est  vn  passage  des  plus  considerables  pour  les  pais 
Occidentaux,  vn  peu  plus  Septentrionaux." 

"  We  [the  missionaries]  have  also  thought  of  applying  our- 
selves, some  of  us,  to  the  task  of  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  new 
languages.  We  turn  our  eyes  on  three  other  nations  nearer:  on 
that  of  the  Algonquins,  scattered  on  every  side,  both  to  the  south 
and  north  of  our  great  lake  [Huron];  on  that  of  the  Neuter 
nation,  which  affords  a  principal  entrance  to  the  countries  on 
south;  and  on  that  of  the  nation  of  the  Puants  [Winnebagoes], 
which  is  one  of  the  more  important  thoroughfares  to  the  west- 
ern countries,  a  little  more  northern." 

^  Fox  river  heads  in  the  northeastern  part  of  Columbia  county, 
Wisconsin,  and  in  the  adjoining  portions  of  Green  Lake  county. 
Flowing,  at  first,  southwest  and  then  due  west,  it  approaches  the 
Wisconsin  at  Portage,  county-seat  of  Columbia  county.  When 
within  less  than  two  miles  of  that  river,  separated  from  it  by 
only  a  low,  sandy  plain— the  famous  "  portage"  of  early  days — 
it  turns  abruptly  northward,  and  with  a  sluggish  current,  con- 
tinues on  this  course,  for  twelve  miles,  to  the  head  of  Lake  Buf- 
falo, in  the  southern  part  of  which  is  now  Marquette  county, 
Wisconsin.  It  now  begins  a  wide  curve,  which  brings  its  direc- 
tion finally  around  due  east.  Lake  Buffalo  is  merely  an  expan- 
sion of  the  river,  thirteen  and  one-half  miles  long  and  half  a 
mile  wide.  From  the  foot  of  this  lake,  the  river  runs  in  an  ir- 
regular, easterly  course,  with  a  somewhat  rapid  current,  to  the 
head  of  Puckaway  lake,  which  is  eight  and  one-fourth  miles  in 
length,  and  from  one  to  tw^o  miles  wide.  At  the  foot  of  this 
lake  there  are  wide  marshes  through  which  the  river  leaves  on 
the  north  side,  and,  after  making  a  long,  narrow  bend  to  the 
west,  begins  a  northeast  stretch,  which  it  continues  for  a  consid- 
erable distance,  passing,  after  receiving  the  waters  of  Wolf  river, 
around  in  a  curve  to  the  southeast  through  Big  Butte  Des  Morts 


62  DISCOVERY   OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

ple,^  speaking  a  language  radically  different  from 
any  of  the  Algonquin  nations,  as  well  as  from 
the  IIurons.2  They  were  of  the  Dakota  stock.^  The 
news  of  the  Frenchman's  coming  spread  through 
the  country.  Four  or  five  thousand  people  assemhled 
of  different  trihes.*  Each  of  the  chiefs  gave  a  ban- 
lake,  and  reaching  Lake  Winnebago,  into  which  it  flows  at  the 
city  of  Oshkosh. 

The  river  leaves  AVinnebago  lake  in  two  channels,  at  the  cities 
of  Menasha  and  Xeenah,  flowing  in  a  westerly  course  to  the  Lit- 
tle Butte  Des  Morts  lake,  and  through  the  latter  in  a  north 
course,  when  it  soon  takes  a  northeasterly  direction,  which 
it  holds  until  it  empties  into  the  head  of  Green  bay. 
The  stream  gets  its  name  from  the  Fox  tribe  of  Indians 
formerly  residing  in  its  valley.  Upon  Champlain's  map  of  1C32, 
it  is  noted  as  'Tiivioi^  de.s  Puans  ;"  that  is,  "  River  of  the  Pu- 
ans  " — Winnebago  river.  The  name  Neenah  (water),  sometimes 
applied  to  it,  is  a  misnomer. 

*  "  Plus  auant  encore  sur  les  mesmes  riues  habitent  les  Ouini- 
pigou  [Winnebagoes],  peujiles  sedentaires  qui  sont  en  grand 
nombre." — Vimont,  Relation^  1G40,  p.  35. 

2 "  Tous  ces  peuples  entendent  1' Algonquin,  excepte  les  ITurons, 
qui  ont  vne  langue  a  part,  comme  aussi  les  Ouinipigou  [Winne- 
bagoes] ou  gens  de  mer." — Ibid. 

^  The  Winnebagoes  and  some  bands  of  Sioux  were  the  only 
Dakotas  that  crossed  the  Mississippi  in  their  migratory  move- 
ment eastward. 

*  Says  Vimont  (J?e?a^wn,  1G43,  pp.  3,  4):  "La  nouuelle  de  sa 
venue  s'espandit  incontinent  aux  lieu  circonuoisins :  il  se  fit  vne 
assemblee,  de  quartre  ou  cincj  m\\\e  hommes." 

But  this  number  is  lessened  somewhat  by  the  Helailon  of  1056 
(p.  39): 

"  Vn  Francois  m'a  dit  autrefois,  qu'il  auoit  veu  trois  mille 
hommes  dans  vne  assemblee  qui  se  fit  pour  traiter  de  paix,  au 
Pais  des  gens  de  Mer." 

"A  Frenchman  [Nicolet]  told  me  some  time  ago,  that  he  had 
seen  three  thousand  men  together  in  one  assemblage,  for  the 


NICOLET   DISCOVERS   THE   NORTHWEST.  63 

qnct.  One  of  tlie  sachems  regaled  his  guests  with  at 
least  one  hundred  and  twenty  beavers.^  The  large 
assemblage  was  prolific  of  speeches  and  ceremonies. 
Kicolct  did  not  fail  to  "  speak  of  peace  "  upon  that 
interesting  occasion.^  He  urged  upon  the  nation  the 
advantages  of  an  alliance,  rather  than  war,  with 
the  nations  to  the  eastward  of  Lake  Huron.  They 
agreed  to  keep  the  peace  with  the  llurons,  ITez  Per- 
ces,  and,  possibly,  other  tribes;  but,  soon  after  E'ico- 
Ict's  return,  they  sent  out  war  parties  against  the  Beaver 
nation.  Doubtless  the  advantages  of  trade  with  the  col- 
ony upon  the  St.  Lawrence  were  depicted  in  glowing 
color's  by  the  Frenchman.  But  the  courageous  Xor- 
man  was  not  satisfied  with  a  visit  to  the  Winnebagoes 
only.  lie  must  see  the  neighboring  tribes.  So  he 
ascended  the  Fox  river  of  Green  bay  to  Winnebago 
lake — passing  through  which,  he  again  entered  that 
stream,  paddling  his  canoe  up  its  current,  until  he 
reached  the  homes  of  the  Mascoutins,''  the  first  tribe 

purpose  of  making  a  treaty  of  peace  in  the  country  of  the  Peo- 
ple of  the  Sea  [Winnebagoes]." 

^  "  Chacun  des  principaux  fit  son  festin,  en  I'vn  desquels  on 
seruit  au  moins  six-vingts  Castors," — Vimont,  Relation,  ]643,  p.  4. 

^  Shea  ("  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi  Valley," 
p.  20)  has  evidently  caught  the  true  idea  of  Nicolet's  mission  to 
the  Winnebagoes.  He  says:  "  With  these  [Winnebagoes]  Nico- 
let  entered  into  friendly  relations." 

'  Synonyms  ;  Mascoutens,  Maskoutens,  Maskouteins.  Musque- 
tens,  Machkoutens,  Maskoutench,  etc.  They  were  called  by  the 
French,  "  Les  Gens  de  Feu  " — the  Nation  of  Fire ;  by  the  Hurons, 
"Assistagueronons"  or  "Atsistaehronons,"  from  assista,  fire  and 
ronons,  people ;  that  is,  Fire-People  or  Fire-Nation.  By  Cham- 
plain,  they  were  noted,  in  1G32,  as  "  Les  Gens  de  Feu  a  Bistaguer- 


64  DISCOVERY   OF   THE  NORTHWEST. 

to  be  met  with  after  leaving  the  "VVinnebagoes ;  for 
the  Sacs^  and  Foxes  ^  were  not  residents  of  what  is 
now  Wisconsin  at  that  period, — their  migration, 
thither,  from  the  east,  having  been  at  a  Bnbsequent 
date.  iJ'Ticolet  had  navigated  the  Fox  river,  a  six- 
days'  jonrney,  since  leaving  the  Winnebagoes.' 

onons  "  on  his  map.  This  is  a  misprint  for  "Assistngueronons,"  as 
his  "Voyages"  of  that  year  shows.   I.,  p.  2''2  ['-272], 

"The  Fire  Nation  bears  this  name  erroneously,  calling  them- 
selves Maskoutench,  which  signifies  'a  land  bare  of  trees,'  such 
as  that  which  these  people  inhabit;  but  because  by  the  change 
of  a  few  letters,  the  same  word  signifies,  'fire,'  from  thence  it 
has  come  that  they  are  called  the  '  Fire  Nation.'  " — Relation,  1671, 
p.  45. 

^  Synonyms  :  Sauks,  Saukis,  Ousakis,  Sakys,  etc. 

*  Synonyms :  Outagamis,  Les  Henards,  Musquakies. 

*  The  distance  by  days  up  the  Fox  river  of  Green  bay  from  the 
Winnebagoes  to  the  Mascoutins,  is  given  in  accordance  with  the 
earliest  accounts  of  canoe  navigation  upon  that  stream.  The 
first  white  persons  to  pass  up  the  river  after  Nicolet  Avere  Allouez 
and  his  attendants,  in  April,  1670.  That  missionary  {Relation^ 
1670,  pp.  96,  97,  99),  says: 

"The  16th  of  April  [1670],  I  embarked  to  go  and  commence 
the  mission  of  the  Outagamis  [Fox  Indians],  a  people  well  known 
in  all  these  parts.  We  were  lying  at  the  head  of  the  bay  [Green 
bay],  at  the  entrance  of  the  River  of  the  Puants  [Fox  river], 
which  we  have  named  '  St.  Francis;'  in  passing,  we  saw  clouds  of 
swans,  bustards,  and  ducks;  the  savages  take  them  in  nets  at 
the  head  of  the  bay,  where  they  catch  as  many  as  fifty  in  a 
night;  this  game,  in  the  autumn,  seek  the  wild  rice  that  the 
wind  has  shaken  off  in  the  month  of  September. 

"The  17th  [of  April  of  the  same  year],  we  went  up  the  River 
St,  Francis  [the  Fox] — two  and  sometimes  three  arpens  wide. 
After  having  advanced  four  leagues,  we  found  the  village  of  the 
savages  named  Saky  [Sacs,  Saukis,  or  Sauks],  who  began  a  work 
that  merits  well  here  to  have  its  place.  From  one  side  of  the 
river  to  the  other,  they  made  a  barricade,  planting  great  stakes, 


NICOLET   DISCOVERS   THE   NORTHWEST.  65 

The  Mascoutins,  as  we  have  seen,  were  heard  of 
by  Champhiin  as  early  as  1615,  as  being  engaged  in  a 
war  with  the  Neuter  nation  and  the  Ottawas.     But, 

two  fathoms  from  the  water,  in  such  a  manner  that  there  is,  as 
it  were,  a  bridge  above  for  the  fishers,  who,  by  the  aid  of  a  little 
bow-net,  easily  take  sturgeons  and  all  other  kinds  of  fish  which 
this  pier  stops,  although  the  water  does  not  cease  to  flow  between 
the  stakes.  They  call  this  device  Mitihikan  ["  Mitchiganen" 
or  "Machihiganing,"  now  "Michigan"];  they  make  use  of  it  in 
the  spring  and  a  part  of  the  summer. 

"  The  18th  [of  the  same  month],  we  made  the  portage  which 
they  call  Kekaling  [afterwards  variously  spelled,  and  pronounced 
"Cock-o-lin  ;"  meaning,  it  is  said,  the  place  of  the  fish.  In  the 
fall  of  1851,  a  village  was  laid  out  there,  which  is  known  as  Kau- 
kauna];  our  sailors  drew  the  canoe  through  the  rapids;  I 
walked  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  where  I  found  apple-trees  and 
vine  stocks  [grape  vines]  in  abundance. 

"  The  19th  [April],  our  sailors  ascended  the  rapids,  by  using 
poles,  for  two  leagues.  I  went  by  land  as  far  as  the  other  port- 
age, which  they  call  Oukocitiming;  that  is  to  say,  the  highway. 
We  observed  this  same  day  the  eclipse  of  the  sun,  predicted  by 
the  astrologers,  which  lasted  from  mid-day  until  two  o'clock. 
The  third,  or  near  it,  of  the  body  of  the  sun  appeared  eclipsed; 
the  other  two-thirds  formed  a  crescent.  We  arrived,  in  the  eve- 
ning, at  the  entrance  of  the  Lake  of  the  Puants  [Winnebago 
lake],  which  we  have  called  Lake  St.  Francis ;  it  is  about  twelve 
leagues  long  and  four  wide ;  it  is  situated  from  north-northeast 
to  south-southwest ;  it  abounds  in  fish,  but  uninhabited,  on  ac- 
count of  the  Nardoiiecis  [Sioux],  who  are  here  dreaded. 

"  The  20th  [of  April,  1670],  which  was  on  Sunday,  I  said  mass, 
after  having  navigated  five  or  six  leagues  in  the  lake;  after 
which,  we  arrived  in  a  river  [the  Fox,  at  what  is  now  Oshkosh], 
that  comes  from  a  lake  of  wild  rice  [Big  Butte  Des  Morts  lake], 
which  we  came  into ;  at  the  foot  [head]  of  which  we  found  the 
river  [the  Wolf]  which  leads  to  the  Outagamis  [Fox  Indians]  on 
one  side,  and  that  [the  Fox]  which  leads  to  the  Machkoutenck 

6 


66  DISCOVERY   OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

up  to  the  time  of  ITicolet's  visit,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  subsequent  (as  lie  gave  no  clue  himself  to  their 
locality),  they  were  only  known  as  living  two  hun- 
dred leagues  or  more  beyond  the  last  mentioned 
tribe — that  is,  that  distance  beyond  the  south  end  of 
the  Georgian  bay  of  Lake  Huron. ^  Their  villages 
were  in  the  valley  of  the  Fox  river,  probably  in  what 

[Mascoutins]  on  the  other.  We  entered  into  the  former  [the 
Wolf].     ... 

"The  29th  [of  April  of  the  same  year,  having  returned  from 
the  Fox  Indians  living  up  the  Wolf  river],  we  entered  into  the 
[Fox]  river,  which  leads  to  the  Machkoutench  [Mascoutins], 
called  Assista  Ectaeronnons,  Fire  Nation  ["Gens  de  Feu"],  by 
the  Hurons.  This  [Fox]  river  is  very  beautiful,  without  rapids 
or  portages  [above  the  mouth  of  the  Wolf] ;.  it  flows  to  [from] 
the  southwest. 

■"  The  30th  [of  April,  1670],  having  disembarked  opposite  the 
village  [of  the  Mascoutins],  and  left  our  canoe  at  the  water's 
edge,  after  a  walk  of  a  league,  over  beautiful  prairies,  we  per- 
ceived the  fort  [of  the  Mascoutins]." 

^Champlain's  "  Les  Voyages  de  la  Novvelle  France,"  I.,  p. 
262  [272],  previously  cited.  Upon  Champlain's  Map  of  1632, 
they  are  located  beyond  and  to  the  south  of  Lake  Huron,  he 
having  no  knowledge  of  Lake  Michigan.  In  his  "  Voyages," 
his  words  are:  "lis  [the  Cheveux  Releves — Ottawas]  sont  la 
guerre,  a  vne  autre  nation  de  Sauuages,  qui  s'appellent  Assist- 
agueronon,  qui  veut  dire  gens  de  feu,  esloignez  d'eux  de  dix 
iournees."  Sagard,  in  1636  ("Histoire  du  Canada,"  p.  201),  is 
equally  indefinite  as  to  locality,  though  placing  them  westward 
of  the  south  end  of  the  Georgian  bay  of  Lake  Huron,  "nine  or 
ten  days'  journey  by  canoe,  which  makes  about  two  hundred 
leagues,  or  more."  He  says :  "  Tous  essemble  [the  different  bands 
of  the  Ottowas]  sont  la  guerre  a  une  autre  nation  nommee  Assista- 
gueronon,  qui  veut  dire  gens  feu  :  car  en  langue  Huronne  Assista 
signifie  de  feu  and  Eronon  signifie  Nation.  lis  sont  esloignez 
d'eux  a  ce  qu'on  tient,  de  neuf  ou  dix  iournees  de  Canots,  qui 
Bont  enuiron  deux  cens  lieues  et  plus  de  chemin." 


NICOLET    DISCOVERS    THE   NORTHWEST.  67 

is  now  Green  Lake  county,  Wisconsin.^  They  had, 
doubtless,  for  their  neighbors,  the  Miamis^  and  Kick- 
apoos.^  They  were  a  vigorous  and  warlike  nation,  of 
Algonquin  stock,  as  were  also  the  two  tribes  last 
mentioned.  Nicolet,  while  among  the  Mascoutins, 
heard  of  the  'Wi3consin  river,  which  was  distant  only 
three  days'  journey  up  the  tortuous  channel  of  the 
Fox..  But  the  accounts  given  him  of  that  tributary 
of  the  Mississippi  were  evidently  very  confused.  A 
reference  to  the  parent  stream  (confounded  with  the 
Wisconsin)  as  "  the  great  water,"  ^  by  the  savages, 
caused  him  to  believe  that  he  was,  in  reality,  but 
three  days'  journey  from  the  sea  ;  aixl  so  he  reported 
after  his  return  to  the  St.  Lawrence.^  Strange  to  say, 
Nicolet  resolved  not  to  visit  this  ocean,  although,  as 
he  believed,  so  near  its  shores. 

He  traveled  no  further  upon  the  Fox  river,^  but 

^  Allouez  {Relation,  1670,  p.  99,  before  cited)  is  the  first  to  give 
their  position  with  any  degree  of  certainty.  Unless,  under 
the  name  of  "  Rasaoua  koueton,"  the  Mascoutins  were  not  men- 
tioned by  Nicolet,  in  the  list  given  to  Vimont  (Beladon,  1640, 
p.  35).  The  "R"  should,  probably,  have  been  "M,"  thus:  "Ma- 
saoua  koueton." 

^  Synonyms :  Miamees,  Miramis,  Myamicks,  Omianicks,  Om- 
miamies,  Oumis,  Oumiamies,  Oumiamiwek,  Oumamis,  Twight- 
wees.     As  to  their  place  of  abode,  see  Shea's  Hennepin,  p.  258. 

'  Synonyms  :  Kikabou,  Kikapou,  Quicapou,  Kickapoux,  Kick- 
apous,  Kikapoux,  Quicapouz,  etc. 

*  The  name  of  this  river  is  from  the  Algonquin  missl,  great,  and 
sepe,  water,  or  river.  The  popular  notion  that  it  means  "  the  fa- 
ther of  waters,"  is  erroneous. 

^  "  Le  Sieur  Nicolet  qui  a  le  plusauant  penetre  dedans  ces  pays 
si  esloignes  m'a  asseure  que  s'il  eust  vogue  trois  iours  plus  auant 
sur  vn  grand  fleuue  qui  sort  de  ce  lac,  qu'il  auroit  trouue  la  mer." 
—Vimont,  Relation,  1640,  p.  36. 

^  That  such  was  the  fact,  and  that  he  did  not  reach  the  Wis- 


68  DISCOVERY  OF  THE   NORTHWEST. 

turned  his  course  to  the  southward.  And  the  Jesuits 
consoled  themselves,  when  they  heard  of  his  short- 

consin  river,  is  deduced  from  the  language  of  the  Relations;  also, 
from  a  consideration  of  the  length  of  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin 
rivers  below  the  "  portage,"  where  they  very  nearly  approach 
each  other;  and  from  a  study  of  the  time  usually  employed,  at 
an  early  day,  in  their  navigation.  It  has,  however,  been  exten- 
sively published  that  Nicolet  did  reach  the  Wisconsin,  and  float 
down  its  channel  to  within  three  days  of  the  Mississippi.  Now, 
Nicolet,  in  speaking  of  a  large  river  upon  which  he  had  sailed, 
evidently  intended  to  convey  the  idea  of  its  being  connected 
with  "  ce  lac  "  (this  lake) ;  that  is,  with  Green  bay  and  Lake 
Michigan — the  two  being  merged  into  one  by  Vimont.  Hence, 
he  must  have  spoken  of  the  Fox  river.  But  Vimont  (jRe/a^eon, 
1640,  p.  36)  understood  him  as  saying,  "  that,  had  he  sailed  three 
days  more  on  a  great  river  which  Jtows  from  that  lake,  he  would 
have  found  the  sea." 

The  Belaiion,  it  will  be  noticed,  says,  "had  he  sailed  three  days 
more,"  etc.  This  implies  a  sailing  already  of  some  days.  But 
such  could  not  have  been  the  case  had  he  been  upon  the  Wis- 
consin ;  as  that  river  is  only  one  hundred  and  eighteen  miles  in 
length,  below  the  portage,  and  the  time  of  its  canoe  navigation 
between  three  and  four  days  only ;  whereas,  upon  the  Fox,  it 
was  nine  days;  six,  from  its  mouth  to  the  Mascoutins,  as  pre- 
viously shown,  and  three  from  the  Mascoutins  to  the  Wisconsin. 

The  first  white  men  who  passed  up  the  Fox  river  above  the 
Mascoutins,  were  Louis  Joliet  and  Father  James  Marquette, 
with  five  French  attendants,  in  June,  1673.  "We  knew,"  says 
Marquette,  "  that  there  was,  three  leagues  from  Maskoutens 
[Mascoutins],  a  river  [Wisconsin]  emptying  into  the  Mississippi ; 
we  knew,  too,  that  the  point  of  the  compass  we  were  to  hold  to 
reach  it,  was  the  west-southwest;  but  the  way  is  so  cut  up  by 
marshes,  and  little  lakes,  that  it  is  easy  to  go  astray,  especially 
as  the  river  leading  to  it  is  so  covered  by  wild  oats,  that  you  can 
hardly  discover  the  channel." 

That  Marquette,  instead  of  "  three  leagues  "  intended  to  say 
"thirty  leagues"  or"  three  days,"  it  is  evident  to  any  one  ac- 
quainted with  the  Fox  river  from  the  "  portage  "  down;  besides, 


NICOLET   DISCOVERS   THE   NORTHWEST.  69 

coming,  with  the  hope  that  one  day  the  western  sea 
would  be  reached  by  one  of  their  order.^  "  In  pass- 
ing, I  will  say,"  wrote  one  of  their  missionaries,  in  1640,. 
''  that  we  have  strong  indications  that  one  can  de- 
scend through  the  second  lake  of  the  Ilurons  .  .  . 
into  this  sea."  ^ 

the  mistake  is  afterward  corrected  in  his  narrative  as  well  as  on 
his  map  accompanying  it,  where  the  home  of  the  Mascoutins 
is  marked  as  indicated  by  Allouez  in  the  Relation  of  1670.  See, 
also,  the  map  of  Joliet,  before  alluded  to,  as  recently  published 
by  Gravier,  where  the  same  location  is  given.  Joliet  and  Mar- 
quette were  seven  days  in  their  journey  from  the  Mascoutins  to 
the  Mississippi;  this  gave  them  three  days  upon  the  Fox  and 
four  upon  the  Wisconsin  (including  the  delay  at  the  portage). 
Canoes  have  descended  frc  m  the  portage  in  two  days. 

The,  lie laiion  of  1670  (pp.  99,  100)  says:  "These  people  [the 
Mascoutins]  are  established  in  a  very  fine  place,  where  we  see 
beautiful  plains  and  hn'el  country,  as  far  as  the  eye  reaches.  Their 
river  leads  into  a  great  river  called  Messisipi;  [to  which]  their 
is  a  navigation  of  only  six  days." 

But  the  question  is  evidently  settled  by  the  Belaiion  of  1654 
(p.  30),  which  says  : 

"  It  is  only  nine  days'  journey  from  this  great  lake  [Green  bay 
and  Lake  Michigan — '  Lac  de  gens  de  mer'J  to  the  sea;"  where 
"  the  sea,"  referred  to,  is,  beyond  doubt,  identical  with  "  la  mer  " 
of  Nicolet. 

^  "  Or  i'ay  de  fortes  coniectures  que  c'est  la  mer  [mentioned  by 
Nicolet]  qui  respond  au  Nord  de  la  Nouuelle  Mexique,  et  que  de 
cette  mer,  on  auroit  entree  vers  le  lapon  et  vers  la  Chine,  neant 
moins  comme  on  ne  S9ait  pas  o\x  tire  ce  grand  lac,  ou  cette  mer 
douce,  ce  seroit  vne  entreprise  genereuse  d'aller  descouurir  ces 
con  trees.  Nos  Peres  qui  sont  aux  Hurons,  inuites  par  quelques 
Algonquins,  sont  sur  le  point  de  donner  iusques  a  ces  gens  de 
I'autre  mer,  dont  i'ay  parle  cy-dessus;  pent  estre  que  ce  voyage 
se  reseruera  pour  I'vn  de  nous  qui  auons  quelque  petite  cognois- 
sance  de  la  langue  Algonquine." — Vimont,  Relations,  1640,  p.  36. 
2  "The  twenty-fourth  day  of  June  [1640],  there  arrived  an  En- 


70  DISCOVERY   OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

But  why  should  N^icolet  leave  the  Fox  river  and 
journey  away  from  the  Mascoutins  to  the  south- 
ward? The  answer  is,  that,  at  no  great  distance, 
lived  the  Illinois.^  Their  country  extended  east- 
ward to  Lake  Michigan,  and  westward  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi, if  not  beyond  it.  This  nation  was  of  too 
much  importance,  and  their  homes  too  easy  of  access, 
for  Mcolet  not  to  have  visited  them.^     Upon  the  heau- 

glishman,  with  a  servant,  brought  in  boats  by  twenty  Abnaquiois 
savages.  lie  set  out  from  the  lake  or  river  Quinibequi  in  Acadia, 
where  the  English  have  a  settlement,  in  order  to  search  for  a 
passage  through  these  countries  to  the  North  sea.  .  .  .  M. 
de  Montmagny  had  him  brought  to  Tadoussac,  in  order  that  he 
might  return  to  England  by  way  of  France. 

"  He  told  us  wonderful  things  of  New  Mexico.  'I  learned,* 
said  he,  '  that  one  can  sail  to  that  country  by  means  of  the  seas 
which  lie  to  the  north  of  it.  Two  years  ago,  I  explored  all  the 
southern  coast  from  Virginia  to  Quinebiqui  to  try  whether  I 
could  not  find  some  large  river  or  some  large  lake  which  should 
bring  me  to  tribes  having  knowledge  of  this  sea,  which  is  north- 
ward from  Mexico.  Not  having  found  any  such  in  these  coun- 
tries, 1  entered  into  the  Saguene  region,  to  penetrate,  if  I  could, 
with  the  savages  of  the  locality,  as  far  as  to  the  northern  sea.' 

"In  passing,  I  will  say  that  we  have  strong  indications  that 
one  can  descend  through  the  second  lake  of  the  Hurons  [Lake 
Michigan  and  Green  bay]  and  through  the  country  of  the  na- 
tions we  have  named  [as  having  been  visited  by  Nicolet]  into 
this  sea  which  he  [the  Englishman]  was  trying  to  find." — Vimont, 
Relation,  1G40,  p.  35. 

^  Synonyms  :  Ilinois,  Ilinoues,  Tllini,  llliniweck,  Tilliniwek,  Ili- 
mouek,  Liniouck,  Abimigek,  Eriniouaj,  etc. 

2  Vimont  {lielalion,  1640,  p.  35)  gives  information  derived  from 
Nicolet,  of  the  existence  of  the  Illinois  (Eriniouaj)  as  neighbors 
of  the  Winnebagoes.  And  the  Relation,  1G56  (p.  39),  says:  "The 
liiniouek  [Illinois],  their  neighbors  [that  is,  the  neighbors  of  the 
Winnebagoes],  number  about  sixty  villages."  Champlain  locates 
a  tribe,  on  his  map  of  1632,  south  of  the  Mascoutins,  as  a  "  na- 


NICOLET    DISCOVERS   THE   NORTHWEST.  71 

tiful  prairies  of  what  is  now  the  state  hearing  their 
name,  was  this  trihe  located,  vrith  some  hands,  prob- 
ahly  nearly  as  far  northward  as  the  southern  counties 
of  the  present  State  of  Wisconsin.  It  is  not  known 
in  how  man}^  villages  of  these  savages  he  smoked  the 
pipe  of  peace.  From  their  homes  he  returned  to  the 
Winnehagoes. 

Before  Mcolet  left  the  country,  on  his  return  to  the 
St.  Lawrence,  he  obtained  knowledge  of  the  Sioux — 
those  traders  from  the  west  who,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, were  represented  as  coming  in  canoes  upon  a 
sea  to  the  Winnehagoes  ;  the  same  ''  sea,"  doubtless, 
he  came  so  near  to,  but  did  not  behold — the  Wiscon- 
sin and  Mississippi  rivers  !  Although  without  beards, 
and  having  only  a  tuft  of  hair  upon  their  crowns, 
these  Sioux  were  no  longer  mandarins — no  longer 
from  China  or  Japan!  Bands  of  this  tribe  had 
pushed  their  way  across  the  Mississippi,  far  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  but  made  no  further  pro- 
gress eastward.  They,  like  the  Winnehagoes,  as  pre- 
viously stated,  were  of  the  Dakota  family.  Whether 
any  of  them  were  seen  by  IS'icolet  is  not  known  ;  ^ 
but  he,  doubtless,  learned  something  of  their  real 
character.  There  was  yet  one  tribe  near  the  Win- 
nehagoes to  be  visited — the  Pottawattamies.^  They 
were  located  upon  the  islands  at  the  mouth  of  Green 

tion  where  there  is  a  quantity  of  buffaloes."  This  nation  was 
probably  the  Illinois, 

^As  Nicolet  proceeded  no  further  to  the  westward  than  six 
days'  sail  up  the  Fox  river  of  Green  bay,  of  course,  the  "Nadvesiv" 
(Sioux)  and  "  Assinipour"  (Assiniboins)  were  not  visited  by  him. 

^Synonyms:  Pottavvottamies,  Poutouatamis,  Pouteouatamis, 
Pouutouatami,  Poux,  Poueatamis,  Pouteouatamiouec,  cte. 


72  DISCOVERY  OF   THE   XORTHWEST. 

bay,  and  upon  the  main  land  to  the  southward,  along 
the  western  shores  of  Lake  Michigan.^  On  these 
Algonquins — for  they  were  of  that  lineage — Nicolet, 
upon  his  return  trip,  made  a  friendly  call.^  Their 
homes  were  not  on  the  line  of  his  outward  voyage, 
hut  to  the  south  of  it.  Mcolet  gave  no  information 
of  them  which  has  been  preserved,  except  that  they 
were  neighbors  of  the  Winnebagoes.* 

So  Mcolet,  in  the  spring  of  1635,*  having  previ- 
ously made  many  friends  in  the  far  northwest  for 
his  countrymen  upon  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  for 
France,  of  nations  of  Indians,  only  a  few  of  which 
had  before  been  heard  of,  and  none  ever  before  vis- 
ited by  a  white  man  ;  having  been  the  first  to  dis- 
cover Lake  Michigan  and  "the  territory  northwest 

*Such,  at  least,  was  their  location  a  few  years  after  the  visit  of 
Nicolet.     The  islands  occupied  were  those  farthest  south. 

^Vimont,  lielation,  1640,  p.  35.  In  the  Relation  of  1643,  it  is 
expressly  stated  that  Nicolet  visited  some  of  the  tribes  on  his 
return  voyage. 

^Saj^s  Margry  {Journal  General  de  ITnstrudion  Publupie,  1862): 
"  Les  peuples  que  le  pere  dit  avoir  etc  pour  hi  plupart  visites  par 
Nicolet  sont  les  Malhominis  ou  Gens  de  la  FoUe  Avoine  [Meyio- 
monees],  les  Ouinipigous  ou  Puans  [  Winnebagoes),  puis  les  Poute- 
ouatami  [^Pottawattamies],  les  Eriniouaj  (ou  Illinois),"  etc. 

*  It  is  highly  probable  that  Nicolet  commenced  his  return  trip 
so  soon,  in  the  spring  of  1635,  as  the  warm  w^eather  had  freed 
Green  bay  of  its  coat  of  ice.  Leaving  the  Winnebagoes,  as  soon 
as  navigation  opened  in  the  spring,  he  would  have  only  about 
ten  weeks  to  reach  the  St.  Lawrence  by  the  middle  of  July — 
the  time,  probably,  of  his  return,  as  previously  mentioned; 
whereas,  having  left  Quebec  July  2,  for  the  west,  he  had  about 
five  months  before  navigation  closed  on  the  lakes,  to  arrive  out. 
Sault  Sainte  Marie  must,  of  necessity,  therefore,  have  been  vis- 
ited in  going  to  the  Winnebagoes. 


NICOLET   DISCOVERS   THE   NORTHWEST.  73 

of  the  river  Ohio  ; "  having  boldly  struck  into  the 
v^ilderness  for  hundreds  of  leagues  beyond  the  Huron 
villages — then  the  Ultima  Thule  of  givilized  discover- 
ies ;  returned,  with  his  seven  dusky  companions,  by  way 
of  Mackinaw  and  along  the  south  shores  of  the  G-reat 
Manitoulin  island  to  the  home  thereon  of  a  band  of 
Ottawas.^     He  proceeded  thence  to  the  Hurons  ;  re- 

i"To  the  south  of  the  Nation  of  the  Beaver  is  an  island,  in 
that  fresh-water  sea  [Lake  Huron],  about  thirty  leagues  in 
length,  inhabited  by  the  Outaouan  [Ottawas].  These  are  a  peo- 
ple come  from  the  nation  of  the  Standing  Hair  [Cheveux  Rel- 
eves]." — Vimont,  Relation,  1640,  p.  34.  In  William  R.  Smith's 
translation  of  so  much  of  this  JRelation  as  names  the  various 
tribes  visited  by  Nicolet  (Hist.  Wis.,  Vol.  III.,  p.  10),  v^-'hat  re- 
lates to  the  Cheveux  Releves  is  omitted — probably  by  accident. 
On  a  large  island,  corresponding  as  to  locality  with  the  Great 
Manitoulin,  is  placed,  on  Du  Creux'  Map  of  1660,  the  "  natio 
surrectorum  capillorum  " — identical  with  the  Cheveux  Releves, 
just  mentioned. 

The  Ottawas  were  first  visited  by  Champlain.  This  was  in  the 
year  1615.  They  lived  southwest  of  the  Hurons.  It  was  he  who 
gave  them  the  name  Cheveux  Releves — Standing  Hair.  Sagard 
saw  some  of  them  subsequently,  and  calls  them  Andatahonats. 
See  his  "  Histoire  du  Canada,"  p.  199. 

Although,  in  the  citation  from  the  Relation  of  1640,  just  given, 
the  band  of  the  Ottawas  upon  the  Great  Manitoulin  are  said  to 
have  "come  from  the  nation  of  the  Standing  Hair."  it  does  not 
fix  the  residence  of  those  from  whom  they  came  as  in  the  valley 
of  the  Ottawa  river.  On  the  contrary,  Cham.plain,  in  his  "  Voy- 
ages" and  Map,  places  them  in  an  opposite  direction,  not  far 
fi'om  the  south  end  of  the  Nottawassaga  bay  of  Lake  Huron  Says 
J.G.  Shea  (Wis.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  III.,  135) :  "  There  is  no  trace  in  the 
early  French  writers  of  any  opinion  then  entertained  that  they 
[the  Ottawas]  had  ever  been  [resided]  in  the  valley  of  the  Ot- 
tawa river.  After  the  fall  of  the  Hurons  [who  were  cut  olf  by 
the  Iroquois  a  number  of  years  subsequent  to  Nicolet's  visit], 

7 


74  DISCOVERY  OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

tracing,  afterward,  his  steps  to  the  mouth  of  French 
river,  up  that  stream  to  Lake  Nipissing,  and  down 
the  Mattawan  and  Ottawa  to  the  St.  Lawrence ;  jour- 
neying, upon  his  return,  it  is  thought,  with  the  sav- 
ages upon  their  annual  trading- voyage  to  the  French 
settlements.^     And  I^icolet's  exploration  was  ended.^ 

when  trade  was  re-opened  with  the  west,  all  tribes  there  were 
called  Ottawas,  and  the  river,  as  leading  to  the  Ottawa  country, 
got  the  name." 

^  As  the  traffic  with  the  Hurons  took:  place  at  Three  Rivers, 
between  the  15th  and  23d  of  July,  1635,  it  is  highly  probable 
that  Nicolet  reached  there  some  time  during  that  month,  on  his 
way  to  Quebec. 

'^  Vimont  {Relation,  1643,  p.  4)  thus  briefly  disposes  of  Nico- 
let's  return  trip  from  the  Winnebagoes :  '*  La  paix  fut  conclue; 
il  retourna  aux  Hurons,  et  de  la  a  quelque  temps  aux  Trois 
Riuieres." 


CHAPTER  lY. 

nicolet's  subsequent  career  and  death. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  the  interest  which 
must  have  been  awakened  in  the  breast  of  Cham- 
plain  upon  the  return  of  Mcolet  to  Quebec.  With 
what  delight  he  must  have  heard  his  recital  of  the 
particulars  of  the  voyage !  How  he  must  have  been 
enraptured  at  the  descriptions  of  lakes  of  unknown 
extent ;  of  great  rivers  never  before  heard  of — never 
before  seen  by  a  Frenchman  !  How  his  imagination 
must  have  kindled  when  told  of  the  numerous  Indian 
nations  which  had  been  visited  !  But,  ah  3ve  all,  how 
fondly  he  hoped  one  day  to  bring  all  these  distant 
countries  under  the  dominion  of  his  own  beloved 
France !  But  the  heart  thus  beating  quick  with 
pleasurable  emotions  at  the  prospects  of  future  glory 
and  renown,  soon  ceased  its  throbs.  On  Christmas 
day,  1635,  Champlain  died.  In  a  chamber  of  the 
fort  in  Quebec,  "  breathless  and  cold,  lay  the  hardy 
frame  which  war,  the  wilderness,  and  the  sea  had 
buffeted  so  long  in  vain." 

The  successor  of  Champlain  was  Marc  Antoine  de 
Bras-de-fer  de  Chasteaufort.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Charles  Huault  de  Montmagny,  who  reached  E'ew 
France  in  1686.  With  him  came  a  considerable  rein- 
forcement ;  ''  and,  among  the  rest,  several  men  of  birth 
and  substance,  with  their  families  and  dependents." 

(75) 


76  DISCOVERY   OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

But  Montmagny  found  the  aiFuirs  of  his  colony  in  a 
woful  condition.  The  "  Company  of  One  Hundred" 
had  passed  its  affairs  into  the  hands  of  those  who  were 
wholly  engrossed  in  the  profits  of  trade.  Instead  of 
sending  out  colonists,  the  Hundred  Associates  "granted 
lands,  with  the  condition  that  the  grantees  should  fur- 
nish a  certain  number  of  settlers  to  clear  and  till  them, 
and  these  were  to  be  credited  to  the  company."  The 
Iroquois,  who,  from  their  intercourse  with  the  Dutch 
and  English  traders,  had  been  supplied  with  fire- 
arms, and  were  fast  becoming  proficient  in  their  use, 
attacked  the  Algonquins  and  Hurons — allies  of  the 
French,  interrupting  their  canoes,  laden  with  furs,  as 
they  descended  the  St.  Lawrence,  killing  their  own- 
ers, or  hurrying  them  as  captives  into  the  forests,  to 
suffer  the  horrors  of  torture. 

At  a  point  to  which  was  given  the  name  of  Sillery, 
four  miles  above  Quebec,  a  new  Algonquin  mission 
was  started ;  still,  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of 
the  town,  the  dark  forests  almost  unbroken  frowned 
as  gloomily  as  when,  thirtj^  years  before,  Champlain 
founded  the  future  city.  Probably,  in  all  New  France, 
the  population,  in  1640,  did  not  much  exceed  two 
hundred,  including  women  and  children.  On  the 
eighteenth  of  May,  1642,  Montreal  began  its  exist- 
ence. The  tents  of  the  founders  were  "  inclosed 
with  a  strong  palisade,  and  their  altar  covered  by  a 
provisional  chapel,  built,  in  the  Huron  mode,  of 
bark."  But  the  Iroquois  had  long  before  become  the 
enemies  of  the  French,  sometimes  seriously  threaten- 
ing Quebec.  So,  upon  the  Island  of  Montreal,  every 
precaution  was  taken  to  avoid  surprise.  Solid  struc- 
tures of  wood  soon  defied  the  attacks  of  the  savages ; 


nicolet's  subsequent  career  and  death.       77 

and 5  to  give  greater  security  to  the  colonists,  Mont- 
magny  caused  a  fort  to  be  erected  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Richelieu,  in  the  following  August.  But  the  end 
of  the  year  1642  brought  no  relief  to  the  Algonquins 
or  Hurons,  and  little  to  the  French,  from  the  ferocious 
Iroquois. 

It  was  not  long  after  Xicolet's  return  to  Quebec, 
from  his  visit  to  "  the  People  of  the  Sea,"  and  neigh- 
boring nations,  before  he  was  assigned  to  Three  liiv- 
ers  by  Champlain,  where  he  was  to  continue  his 
office  of  commissary  and  interpreter;  for,  on  the 
ninth  of  December,  1635,  he  "  came  to  give  advice  to 
the  missionaries  who  were  dwelling  at  the  mission 
that  a  young  Algonquin  was  sick;  and  that  it  would 
be  proper  to  visit  him."  ^  And,  again,  on  the  seventh 
of  the  following  month,  he  is  found  visiting,  with 
one  of  the  missionaries,  a  sick  Indian,  near  the  fort, 
at  Three  Rivers.'^  His  official  labors  were  performed 
to  the  great  satisfaction  of  both  French  and  Indians, 

^ "  Le  neufiesme  de  Decembre,  iustement  le  lendemain  de  la 
feste  de  la  Conception,  le  sieur  lean  Nicolet,  Truchement  pour 
les  Algonquins  aux  Trois  Riuieres,  vint  donner  aduis  aux  Peres, 
qui  de  meuroient  en  la  Residence  de  la  Conception  sise  au  mesme 
lieu,  qu'vn  ieune  Algonquin  se  trounoit  mal,  et  qu'il  seroit  a 
prospos  de  le  visiter." — Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1636,  p.  8. 

2  "  Le  septiesme  de  lanuier  de  cette  annee  mil  six  cens  trente 
six,  le  fils  d'vn  grand  Sorcier  ou  longleur  fut  faict  Chrestien,  son 
pere  s'y  accordant  apres  de  grandes  resistances  qu'il  en  fit:  car, 
comme  nos  Peres  euentoient  ses  mines,  et  la  decreditoient,  il  ne 
pouuoit  les  supporter  en  sa  Cabane.  Cepandant  comme  son  fils 
tiroit  a  la  mort,  ils  prierent  le  sieur  Nicolet  de  faire  son  possible 
pour  sauuer  cette  ame  :  ils  s'en  vont  done  le  Pere  Quentin  et  luy 
en  cette  maison  d'ecorce,  pressent  fortement  ce  Sauuage  de  con- 
sentir  au  baptesme  de  son  petit  fils." — Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1636, 
p.  10. 


78  DISCOVERY   OF    THE   NORTHWEST. 

by  whom  he  was  equally  and  sincerely  lovecl.  lie 
was  constantly  assisting  the  missionaries,  so  far  as  his 
time  would  permit,  in  the  conversion  of  the  savages, 
whom  he  knew  how  to  manage  and  direct  as  he 
desired,  and  with  a  skill  that  could  hardly  find  its 
equal.  His  kindness  won  their  esteem  and  respect. 
His  charity  seemed,  indeed,  to  know  no  bounds.*  As 
interpreter  for  one  of  the  missionaries,  he  accompa- 
nied him  from  Three  Rivers  on  a  journey  some 
leagues  distant,  on  the  twelfth  of  April,  1636,  to  visit 

^"Le  trente-vniesme  [of  December,  1635],  vne  fille  agee  d'en- 
uiron  seize  ans  fut  baptisee,  et  nommee  Anne  par  vn  de  nos  Fran- 
cois. Le  Pere  Buteux  I'instruisant  luy  dit,  que  si  estant  Chres- 
tienne  elle  venoit  a  mourir,  son  ame  iroit  au  Ciel  dans  les  ioyes 
eternelles.  A  ce  mot  de  mourir,  elle  eut  vne  si  grande  frayeur, 
qu'elle  ne  voulut  plus  iamais  prester  I'oreille  au  Pere;  on  luy 
enuoya  le  Sieur  Nicolet  truchement,  qui  exerce  volontiers  sem- 
blables  actions  de  charite ;  elle  I'escoute  paisiblement;  mais 
comme  ses  occupations  le  diuertissent  ailleurs,  il  ne  la  pouuoit 
visiter  si  souuent:  c'est  pourquoy  lo  Pere  Quentin  s'efforca  d'ap- 
prendre  les  premiers  rudimens  du  Christianisme  en  Sauuage,  afin 
de  la  pouur  instruire.  Cela  luy  reiissit  si  bien,  que  cette  pauure 
fille  ayant  pris  goasta  cette  doctrine  salutaire,  desira  le  Baptesme 
que  la  Pere  luy  accorda.  La  grace  a  plusieurs  effects:  on  re- 
marqua  que  cette  fille,  fort  dedaigneuse  et  altierede  son  naturel, 
deuint  fort  douce  et  traittable,  estant  Chrestienne. — Ibid. 

"  II  [Nicolet]  .  .  .  continua  sa  charge  de  Commis  et  Inter- 
prete  [at  Three  Rivers]  auec  vne  satisfaction  grande  des  Francois 
et  des  Sauuages,  desquels  il  estoit  esgalement  et  vniquement 
ayme.  II  conspiroit  puissamment,  autant  que  sa  charge  le  per- 
mettoit,  auec  nos  Peres,  pour  la  conuersion  de  ces  peuples,  lesquels 
il  s^auoit  manier  et  tourner  ou  il  vouloit  d'vne  dexterite  qui  a 
peine  trouucra  son  pareil." — Vimont,  Relation^  1643,  p.  4. 

Compare,  also,  Relation,  1G37,  p.  24. 


nicolet's  subsequent  career  and  death.        79 

some  savages  who  were  sick ;  thus  constantly  admin- 
istering to  their  sufferings.^ 

I^^otwithstanding  the  colonists  of  E'ew  France  were 
living  in  a  state  of  temporal  and  spiritual  vassalage, 
yet  the  daring  Mcolet,  and  others  of  the  interpreters 
of  Champlain,  although  devout  Catholics  and  friendly 
to  the  establishment  of  missions  among  the  Indian  na- 
tions, were  not  Jesuits,  nor  in  the  service  of  these  fa- 
thers ;  neither  was  their's  the  mission  work,  in  any 
sense,  which  was  so  zealously  prosecuted  by  these 
disciples  of  Loyola.  They  were  a  small  class  of  men, 
whose  home — some  of  them — was  the  forest,  and  their 
companions  savages.  They  followed  the  Indians  in 
their  roamings,  lived  with  them,  grew  familiar  with 
their  language,  allied  themselves,  in  some  cases,  with 
their  women,  and  often  became  oracles  in  the  camp 
and  leaders  on  the  war-path.  Doubtless,  when  they 
returned  from  their  rovings,  they  often  had  pressing 
need  of  penance  and  absolution.  Several  of  them 
were  men  of  great  intelligence  and  an  invincible 
courage.  From  hatred  of  restraint,  and  love  of  wild 
and  adventurous  independence,  they  encountered 
privations  and  dangers  scarcely  less  than  those  to 
which  the  Jesuit  exposed  himself  from  motives  widely 

^  "  Le  deuxieme  iouer  d'Auril,  le  Pere  Quentin  fit  vn  voyage  a 
quelques  lieues  des  Trois  Riuieres  [Three  Rivers],  pour  quelques 
malades,  dont  on  nous  auoit  donne  aduis.  Le  fruict  qu'il  en  rap- 
porta  fut  d'auoir  expose  plusieurs  fois  sa  vie  pour  Dieu,  parmy 
les  dangers  des  glaces  et  du  manuals  temps.  II  se  contenta  de 
leur  donner  quelque  instruction,  sans  en  baptiser  aucun,  ne  les 
voyant  ny  en  peril  de  mort,  ny  suffisamment  instruits,  Le  sieur 
lean  Nicolet  luy  seruit  de  trucliement,  auec  sa  charite  et  fidelite 
ordinaire,  dont  nos  Peres  tirent  de  grands  seruices  en  semblables 
occasions." — Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1636,  pp.  57,  58. 


80  DISCOVERY    OP    THE    NOHTIIWEST. 

diiFerent  • — he,  from  religious  zeal,  charity,  and  the 
hope  of  paradise  ;  they,  simply  hecause  they  liked  it. 
Some  of  the  best  families  of  Canada  claim  descent 
from  this  vigorous  and  hardy  stock.^ 

"  The  Jesuits  from  the  first  had  cherished  the  plan 
of  a  seminary  for  Huron  hoys  at  Quebec.  The  gov- 
ernor and  the  company  favored  the  design ;  since  not 
only  would  it  be  an  eificient  means  of  spreading  the 
faith  and  attaching  the  tribe  to  the  French  interest,  but 
the  children  would  be  pledges  for  the  good  behavior  of 
the  parents,  and  hostages  for  the  safety  of  missionaries 
and  traders  in  the  Indian  towns.  In  the  summer  of 
1636,  Father  Daniel,  descending  from  the  Huron 
country,  worn,  emaciated,  his  cassock  patched  and 
tattered,  and  his  shirt  in  rags,  brought  with  him  a 
boy,  to  whom  two  others  were  soon  added ;  and 
through  the  influence  of  the  interpreter,  ^icolet, 
the  number  was  afterward  increased  by  several  more. 
One  of  them  ran  away,  two  ate  themselves  to  death, 
a  fourth  was  carried  home  by  his  father,  while  three 
of  those  remaining  stole  a  canoe,  loaded  it  with  all 
they  could  lay  their  hands  upon,  and  escaped  in  tri- 
umph with  their  plunder."  ^ 

I^icolet  frequently  visited  Quebec.     Upon  one  of 

^  Adapted  from  Parkman's  "  Jesuits  in  North  America,"  pp. 
165,  1C6. 

^  Parkman's  "  Jesuits  in  North  America,"  pp.  167,  168,  citing 
the  Relations  of  1G37  and  1G38.  Father  Le  Jeune  {delation, 
1030,  p.  75)  says  ;  "  Comme  i'ecry  cecy  lo  vingt-huictieme  d'Aoust, 
voila  que  le  Pere  Buteux  me  mande  lo  depart  du  Pere  loques, 
I'arriuee  d'vne  autre  troupe  de  Hurons,  de  qui  le  sieur  Nicolet 
a  cncDre  obtenu  trois  ieunes  gar9ons,  sur  le  rapport  quo  leur  ont 
fait  lours  compagnons  du  bon  traittcmont  quo  Monsieur  le  Gen- 
eral et  tous  los  autres  Francois  leur  auoient  fait." 


nicolet's  subsequent  career  and  death.        81 

these  occasions  he  had  a  narrow  escape.  He  found 
the  St.  Lawrence  incumbered  with  ice.  Behind  him 
there  came  so  great  a  quantity  of  it  that  he  was  com- 
pelled to  get  out  of  his  canoe  and  jump  upon  one  of 
the  floating  pieces.  He  saved  himself  with  much 
diiRculty  and  labor.  This  happened  in  April,  1637.^ 
On  the  twenty-seventh  of  the  same  month  ]N"icolet 
was  present  at  Quebec,  on  the  occasion  of  a  deputa- 
tion of  Indians  from  Three  Rivers  waiting  upon  the 
governor,  asking  a  favor  at  his  hands  promised  by 
Champlain.  He  was  consulted  as  to  what  the  prom- 
ise of  the  former  governor  was.^ 

In  June,  he  was  sent,  it  seems,  up  from  the  fort  at 
Three  Rivers  to  ascertain  whether  the  Iroquois  were 
approaching.  He  went  as  far  as  the  river  Des  Prairies 
— the  name  for  the  Ottawa  on  the  north  side  of  the 
island  of  Montreal.^  In  August,  the  enemy  threat- 
ened Three  Rivers  in  force.  The  French  and  Indians 
in  the  fort  could  not  be  decoyed  into  danger.  How- 
ever, a  boat  was  sent  up  the  St.  Lawrence,  conducted 
by  ^icolet.  The  bark  approached  the  place  where 
the  Iroquois  were,  but  could  not  get  within  gun-shot; 
yet  a  random  discharge  did  some  execution.  The 
enemy  were  judged  to  be  about  five  hundred  strong. 
Although  the  fort  at  Three  Rivers  was  thus  seriously 
threatened,  no  attack  was  made.^ 

On  the  seventh  of  October,  1637,  Mcolet  was  mar- 
ried at  Quebec  to  Marguerite  Couillard,  a  god-child  of 

^  Le  Jeune,  lielaiion,  1G37,  p.  78. 

2  lb.,  p.  81. 

3  lb.,  p.  84. 
*  lb.,  p.  89. 


82  DISCOVERY   OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

Champlain.^  The  fruit  of  tins  marriage  was  but  one 
child — a  daughter.  I^icolet  continued  his  residence 
at  Three  Rivers,  largely  employed  in  his  official  du- 
ties of  commissary  and  interpreter,  remaining  there 
until  the  time  of  his  death.^  In  1641,  he,  with  one 
of  the  Jesuit  fathers,  was  very  busy  in  dealing  with 
a  large  force  of  Iroquois  that  was  threatening  the 
place.^ 

About  the  first  of  October,  1642,  ISTicolet  was  called 
down  to  Quebec  from  Three  Rivers,  to  take  the 
place  of  his  brother-in-law,  M.  Olivier  le  Tardiff, 
who  was  General  Commissary  of  the  Hundred  Part- 
ners, and  who  sailed  on  the  seventh  of  that  montli  for 
France.  The  change  was  a  very  agreeable  one  to  ^N'ico- 
let,  but  he  did  not  long  enjoy  it ;  for,  in  less  than  a  month 
after  his  arrival,  in  endeavoring  to  make  a  trip  to  his 

^  See  Ferland's  "  Cours  D'  Histoiredu  Canada,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  326; 
also,  his  "  Notes  sur  les  Resigistres  de  Notre-Dame  de  Quebec," 
p.  30,  notes;  and  Gravier's  "  Decourvertes  et  Etablissements  de 
Cavalier  de  la  Salle,"  p.  47. 

Nicolet's  wife  was  a  daughter  of  GuillaumeCouillard  and  Guil- 
lemette  Ilebert.  Kicolet's  marriage  contract  was  dated  at  Que- 
bec, October  22,  1G37,  several  days  subsequent  to  his  nuptials. 
This  was  not  an  uncom'mon  thing  in  New  France  in  early  days, 
but  has  not  been  allowed  in  Canada  for  about  a  century  past.  The 
contract  w\as  drawn  up  by  Guitet,  a  notary  of  Quebec.  There 
were  present  Fran9ois  Derre  de  Gand,  Commissaire-General ;  Oli- 
vier le  Tardif;  Noel  Juchereau  ;  Pierre  De  la  Porte;  Guillaume 
Iluboust;  Guillaume  Ilebert;  Marie  RoUet  aieule  do  la  future 
epouse;  Claude  Racine;  Etienne  Racine. 

^Tho  presence  of  Nicolet  at  Three  Rivers  during  all  these 
years  (except  from  March  19,  1638,  to  January  9,  1639)  is  shown 
by  reference  to  the  Relations,  and  to  the  church  register  of  thai 
place.     See  Appendix,  I.,  as  to  the  latter. 

*  Vimont,  Relation,  1641,  p.  41. 


nicolet's  subsequent  career  and  death.        83 

place  of  residence  to  release  an  Indian  prisoner  in  the 
possession  of  a  band  of  Algonquins,  who  were  slowly 
torturing  him,  his  zeal  and  humanity  cost  him  his 
life.^  On  the  27th  of  October,'^  he  embarked  at  Que- 
bec, near  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  in  the  launch 
of  M.  de  Savigny,  which  was  headed  for  Three  Riv- 
ers. He  had  not  yet  reached  Sillery,  when  a  north- 
east squall  raised  a  terrible  tempest  on  the  St.  Law- 
rence and  filled  the  boat.  Those  who  were  in  it  did 
not  immediately  go  down ;  they  clung  some  time  to 
the  launch.  Kicolet  had  time  to  say  to  M.  de  Sa- 
vigny, "  Save  yourself,  sir  ;  you  can  swim  ;  I  can  not. 
I  am  going  to  God.  I  recommend  to  you  my  wife 
and  daughter."  ^ 

^  Monsieur  Oliuier,  Commis  General  de  Messieurs  de  la  Com- 
pagnie,  estant  venu  I'an  passe  en  France,  le  dit  sieur  Nicollet  de- 
scendit  a  Quebec  en  sa  place,  auec  vne  ioye,  et  consolation  sen- 
sible qu'il  eut  de  se  voir  dans  la  paix  et  la  deuotion  de  Quebec. 
Mais  il  n'enioiiit  pas  long-temps:  car  vn  mois  ou  deux  apres  son 
arriuee,  faisant  vn  voyage  aux  Trois  Riuieres  pour  la  deliurance 
d'vn  prisonnier  Sauuage,  son  zele  luy  cousta  la  vie,  qu'il  perdit 
dans  le  naufrage." — Vimont,  Relation,  1643,  p.  4. 

"^  I'adiousteray  icy  vn  mot  de  la  vie  et  de  la  mort  de  Monsieur 
Nicollet,  Interpreto  et  Commis  de  Messieurs  de  la  Compagnie 
de  la  Nouuelle  France  ;  il  mourut  dix  iours  apres  le  Pere  [Charles 
Raymbault,  decede  le  22  Octobre,  1642],  il  auoit  demeure  vingt- 
cinq  ans  en  ces  quartiers." — Vimont,  i?c/a;'?o??,  1643,  p.  3.  The 
incorrectness  of  this  date  as  to  the  death  of  Nicolet  will  here- 
after be  shown. 

^  "  II  \_Nicole.t]  sembarqua  a  Quebec  sur  les  sept  heures  du  soir, 
dans  la  chalouppe  de  Monsieur  de  Sauigny,  qui  tiroit  vers  les 
Trois  Riuieres,  ils  n'estoient  pas  encor  arriuez  a  Sillery,  qu'vn 
coup  de  vent  de  Nord  Est,  qui  auoit  excite  vne  horrible  tem- 
peste  sur  la  grande  rluiere,  remplit  la  chalouppe  d'eau  et  la 
coula  a  fond,  apres  luy  auoir  fait  faire  deux  ou  trois  tours  dans 


84  DISCOVERY   OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

The  wild  waves  tore  the  men,  one  after  another, 
from  the  boat,  which  had  capsized  and  floated  against 
a  rock,  and  four,  inchiding  ^N'icolet,  sank  to  rise  no 
more.^     M.  de  Savigny  alone  cast  himself  into  the 

I'eau.  Ceux  qui  estoient  dedans  n'allerent  pas  incontinent  a 
fond,  ils  s'attacherent  quelque  temps  a  la  challouppe.  Monsieur 
Nicollet  eut  loisir  de  dire  a  Monsieur  de  Sauigny :  Monsieur,^ 
sauuez-vous,  vous  sgauez  nager;  ie  ne  le  S9ay  pas.  Pour  nioy  ie 
m'en  vay  a  Dieu;  ie  vous  recommande  ma  femme  et  ma  fiUe." — 
Vimont,  H elation,  1G43,  p.  4. 

Nicolet's  daughter  afterwards  married  Jean-Baptiste  le  Gard- 
eur  de  Repentigny,  entering  into  a  family  which  was  one  of  the 
most  considerable  in  French  America.  Her  son,  Augustin  le 
Gardeur  de  Courtemanche, — "  officier  dans  les  troupes,  se  distin- 
gua,  par  de  longs  et  utiles  services  dans  I'ouest,  futun  digne  con- 
temporain  de  Nicolas  Perot,  de  meme  qu'un  honorable  rejeton 
de  sou  grandpere  Nicolet." — Suite's  "  Melanges  D'  Ilistoire  et  de 
Litterature,"  p.  446. 

^It  is  reasonably  certain  that  the  day  of  Nicolet's  death  was 
October  27,  1G42,  Compare  Margry,  in  Journal  General  de  t In- 
struction Publique,  1862.     A  recent  writer  says: 

**  Le  29  septembre  1642,  aux  Trois-Rivieres,  le  Pere  Jean  de 
Brebeuf  baptista  deux  petites  lilies  de  race  algonquine  dont  les 
parrains  et  marraines  furent  '  Jean  Nicolet  avec  Perrette  (nom 
indien),  et  Nicolas  Marsolet  (I'interprete),  avec  Marguerite  Couil- 
lard,  femme  de  M.  Nicolet.' 

"  Le  7  octobre  suivant  eut  lieu,  a  Quebec,  le  depart  des  navires 
pour  la  France.  (Iielation,  1643,  p.  46.)  Cette  Relation  ecrite 
vers  la  fin  de  I'ete  de  1643,  raconte  ce  qui  s'est  passe  apres  le 
depart  des  navires  de  1642. 

"  Le  sieur  Olivier  le  Tardif  partit  pour  la  France  cet  automne, 
1642,  et  fut  remplace  a  Quebec,  dans  sa  charge  de  commis-gon- 
eral  de  la  compagnie  des  Cent-Associes,  par  son  beau-frere  Nico- 
let, qui  descendit  des  Trois-Rivieres  expresseraent  pour  cola  (Iie- 
lation, 1643,  p.  4),  par  consequent  entre  lo  29  septembre  et  lo  7 
octobre. 

"  Le  19  octobre,  un  sauvago  d'uno  nation  aPieo  aux  Iroquois 


nicolet's  subsequent  career  and  death.       85 

water,  and  swam  among  the  waves,  which  were  Hke 
small  mountains.  The  launch  was  not  very  far  from 
the  shore,  hut  it  was  pitch  dark,  and  the  bitter  cold 
had  covered  the  river  banks  with  ice.  Savigny,  feel- 
ing his  resolution  and  his  strength  failing  him,  made 

fut  amene  captif  aux  Trois-Rivieres  par  les  Algonquins  de  ce 
lieu,  qui  le  condamiierent  a  perir  sur  le  bucher.  {Relation,  1G43, 
p.  46.)  Les  Peres  Jesuites  et  M.  des  Rochers,  le  commandant  du 
fort,  ayant  epuise  tous  les  arguments  qu'ils  croyaient  pouvoir  em- 
ployer pour  induire  ces  barbares  a  ne  pas  faire  mourir  leur  pris- 
onnier,  envoyerent  un  messager  a  Quebec  avertir  Nicolet  de  ce 
qui  se  passait  et  reclamer  son  assistance.     {Relation,  1643,  p.  4.) 

"  Ces  pourparlers  et  ces  demarches  paraissent  avoir  occupe 
plusieurs  jours. 

"  A  cette  nouvelle,  Nicolet,  n'ecoutant  que  son  coeur,  s'em- 
barqua  a  Quebec,  dans  la  chaloupe  de  M.  Chavigny,  vers  les  sept 
heures  du  soir.  L'embarcation  n'etait  pas  arrives  a  Sillery,  qu'un 
coup  de  vent  du  nord-est  qui  avait  souleve  une  grosse  tempete,  la 
remplit  d'eau  et  la  coula  a  fond.  M.  de  Chavigny  seul  se  sauva. 
La  nuit  etait  tres-noire  et  il  faisait  un  froid  apre  qui  avait  couvert 
de  '  bordages'  les  rives  du  fleuve.     {Relation,  1C43,  p.  4.) 

"  Dans  ses  Notes  sur  les  registres  de  Noire-Dame  de  Quebec,  M. 
I'abbe  Ferland  nous  donne  le  texte  de  I'acte  qui  suit:  '  Le  29 
octobre,  on  fit  les  funerailles  de  monsieur  Nicollet  et  de  trois 
hommes  de  M.  de  Chavigny,  noyes  dans  une  chaloupe  qui  allait 
de  Quebec  a  Siliery ;  les  corps  ne  furent  point  trouves.' 

"  M.  de  Chavigny  demeurait  a  Sillery.  II  est  probable  que 
Nicolet  comptait  repartir  de  la  le  lendemain,  soit  a  la  voile  (en 
chaloupe)  ou  en  canot  d'ecorce,  selon  I'etat  du  fleuve,  pour  at- 
teindre  les  Trois-Rivieres. 

"  Le  captif  des  Algonquins  ayant  ete  delivre  par  I'entremise  de 
M.  des  Rochers,  arriva  a  Quebec  douze  jours  apres  le  naufragede 
Nicolet  {Relation,  1643,  p.  4),  le  9  novembre  {Relation,  1643,  p.  44), 
ce  qui  fixerait  au  27  ou  28  octobre  la  date  demandee. 

"  Comme  ce  malheur  cut  lieu  a  la  nuit  close,  pendant  une  tem- 
pete, il  est  raisonable  de  supposer  que  la  recherche  des  cadavres 
ne  put  se  faire  que  le  lendemain,  surtout  lorsque  nous  songeons 
que  Sillery  n'est  pas  Quebec,  quoiqu'assez  rapproche.    Le  service 


86  DISCOVERY   OF   THE   NORTHWEST. 

a  VOW  to  God,  and  a  little  after,  reaching  down  with 
his  feet,  he  felt  the  bottom,  and  stepping  out  of  the 
water,  he  reached  Sillery  half  dead.  For  quite  a 
while  he  was  unable  to  speak ;  then,  at  last,  he  re- 
counted the  fatal  accident  which,  besides  the  death 
of  Nicolet — disastrous  to  the  whole  country — had  cost 
him  three  of  his  best  men  and  a  large  part  of  his 
property.  He  and  his  wife  suffered  this  great  loss, 
in  a  barbarous  country,  with  great  patience  and  res- 
ignation to  the  will  of  God,  and  without  losing  any 
of  their  courage.^ 


funebre  dut  etre  celebre  le  troisieme  jour,  et  non  pas  le  lende- 
main  de  Tevenement  en  question. 

"  J'adopie  done  la  date  du  lundi  27  octobre  comme  celle  de  la 
mort  de  Nicolet. 

"  II  est  vrai  que  la  Helation  citee  plus  haut  nous  dit  (p.  3)  que 
le  Pere  Charles  Rayinbault  deceda  le  22  octobre,  et  que  la  mort 
de  Nicolet  eut  lieu  dix  jours  apres;  mais  facte  du  29  octobre  au 
registre  de  Quebec  renverse  ce  calcul  de  dix  jours  qui  nous  me- 
nerait  au  ler  ou  2  novembre. 

"  La  meme  Relation  (p.  4)  dit  aussi  que  Nicolet  perit  un  mois 
ou  deux  apres  son  arrivee  a  Quebec,  tandis  que  nous  voyons  par 
ce  q.ue  j'expose  ci-dessus  qu'il  n'a  guere  ete  plus  de  trois  semaines 
absent  des  Trois-Rivieres  avant  de  partir  pour  sa  fatale  expe- 
dition. 

"  La  date  du  27  octobre  parait  irrefutable." — M.  Suite,  in 
IJ  Opinion  Puhliqiie,  Montreal,  July  24,  1879. 

^  Les  vagues  les  arracherent  tous  les  vns  apres  les  autres  de  la 
chalouppe,  qui  flottoit  renuersee  contre  vne  roche.  Monsieur 
de  Sauigny  seul  se  ietta  a  I'eau  et  nagea  parmy  des  flots  et  des 
vagues  qui  resembloient  a  de  petites  montagnes.  La  Chalouppe 
n'estoit  pas  bien  loin  du  riuage;  mais  il  estoit  nuict  toute 
noire,  et  faisoit  vn  froid  aspre,  qui  auoit  desia  glace  les  bords 
de  la  riuiere.  Le  dit  sieur  de  Sauigny,  sentant  le  cceur  et  les 
forces  qui  luy  manquoient,  fit  vn  voeu  d  Dieu,  et  peu  apres 
frappant  du  pied  il  sent  la  terre,  et  se  tirant  hors   do  I'eau, 


nicolet's  subsequent  career  and  death.        87 

The  savages  of  Sillery,  at  the  report  of  Mcolet's 
shipwreck,  ran  to  the  place,  and  not  seeing  him  any 
where,  displayed  indescribahle  sorrow.  It  was  not 
the  first  time  he  had  exposed  himself  to  danger  of 
death  for  the  good  of  the  Indians.  He  had  done  so 
frequently.  Thus  perished  John  IsTicolet,  in  the  w^a- 
ters  of  the  great  river  of  Canada — the  red  man  and 
the  Frenchman  alike  mourning  his  untimely  fate.^ 

Twelve  days  after  the  shipwreck,  the  prisoner  to 
the  Algonquins,  for  whose  deliverance  I^icolet  started 
on  his  journey,  arrived  at  Sillery — the  commander  at 
Three  Elvers,  following  the  order  of  the  governor, 
having  ransomed  him.  He  w^as  conducted  to  the  hos- 
pital of  the  place  to  be  healed  of  the  injuries  he  had 
received  from  his  captors.  .  They  had  stripped  the 
flesh  from  his  arms,  in  some  places  to  the  hone.  The 
nuns  at  the  hospital  cared  for  him  with  much  sym- 
pathy, and  cured  him  so  quickly  that  in  a  month's 

s'en  vint  en  nostre  maison  a  Sillery  a  demy  mort.  II  de- 
meura  assez  long-temps  sans  pouuoir  parler;  puis  enfin  11  nous 
raconta  le  funeste  accident,  qui  outre  la  mort  de  Monsieur 
Nicollet,  dommageable  a  tout  le  pays,  luy  auoit  perdue  trois  de 
ses  meilleurs  liommes  et  vne  grande  partie  de  son  meuble  et  de 
ses  prouisions.  Luy  et  Mademoiselle  sa  femme  ont  porte  cette 
perte  signallee  dans  vn  pays  barbare,  auec  vne  grande  patience 
et  resignation  a  la  volonte  de  Dieu,  et  sans  rien  diminuer  de 
leur  courage. — Vimont,  Belation,  1C43,  p.  4. 

^  "  Les  Sauuages  de  Sillery,  au  bruit  du  naufFrage  de  Monsieur 
Nicollet,  courent  sur  le  lieu,  et  ne  le  voyant  plus  paroistre,  en 
tesmoignent  des  regrets  indicibles.  Ce  n'estoit  pas  la  premiere 
fois  que  cet  homme  s'estoit  expose  ou  danger  de  la  mort  pour  le 
bien  et  le  salut  des  Sauuages  :  il  I'a  faict  fort  souuent,  et  nous  a 
laisse  des  exemples  qui  sont  au  dessus  de  I'estat  d'vn  homme 
marie,  et  tiennent  de  le  vie  Apostolique  et  laissent  vne  enuie  au 
plus  feruent  Religieux  de  I'imiter."— Vimont,  Relation,  1643,  p.  4. 


88  DISCOVERY   OF    THE   NORTHWEST. 

time  lie  was  able  to  return  to  liis  country.  All  the 
neophytes  showed  him  as  much  compassion  and  charity 
as  the  Algonquins  had  displayed  of  cruelty.  They  gave 
him  two  good,  Christianized  savages  to  escort  him  as 
far  as  the  country  of  a  neighboring  tribe  of  his  own, 
to  the  end  that  he  might  reach  his  home  in  safety.^ 

After  the  return  of  the  French  to  Quebec,  the 
Jesuits,  as  previously  mentioned,  were  commissioned 
with  the  administration  of  spiritual  affairs  in  'New 
France.  Some  of  these  turned  their  attention  to  the 
Europeans;  the  rest  were  employed  in  missions  among 
the  savages.  In  the  autumn  of  1635,  the  residences 
and  missions  of  Canada  contained  fifteen  Fathers 
and  five  Brothers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  At  Que- 
bec, there  were  also  formed  two  seculars — ecclesiastics. 
One  of  these  was  a  brother  of  ^icolet.^     lie  had  come 

^  '•  Douze  lours  apres  leur  naufrage,  le  piisonnier  pour  la  deliu- 
ranceduquel  il  [Nicolet]  s'estoit  einbarque,  arriuaicy.  Monsieur 
des  Roches  commandant  aux  Trois  Riuieres,  suiuant  I'ordre  de 
Monsieur  leGouuerneur,  Tauoitrachete.  II  mitpiedaterrca  Sil- 
lery,  et  de  la  fut  conduit  a  T  Hospital  pour  estre  pause  des  playes 
et  blessures  que  les  Algonquins  luy  auoient  faites  apres  sa  cap- 
ture: lis  luy  auoient  emporte  la  chair  des  bras,  en  quelques  en- 
droits  iusques  aux  os.  Les  Religieuses  hospitalieres  le  receurent 
auec  beaucoup  de  charite,  et  le  firent  panser  fort  soigneusement, 
en  sorte  qu'en  trois  semaines  ou  vn  mois,  il  fut  en  estat  de  re- 
tourner  en  son  pays.  Tous  nos  Neophytes  luy  tesmoignerent 
autant  de  compassion  et  de  charite  que  les  Algonquins  de  la 
haut  luy  auoient  montre  de  cruaute:  lis  luy  donnerent  deux 
bons  Sauuages  Christiens,  pour  le  conduire  iusques  aux  pays  des 
Abnaquiois,  qui  sont  voisins  de  sa  nation." — Vimont,  Belation, 
1C43,  pp.  4,  5. 

'  His  name  was  G  illes  Nicolet.  He  was  born  in  Cherbourg,  and 
came  to  Canada  in  ]0;>5.  lie  is  one  of  the  first  "  pretres  secu- 
liers" — that  is,  not  belonging  to  congregations  or  institutes,  such 


nicolet's  subsequent  career  and  death.        89 

from  Cherbourg  to  join  him  upon  the  St.  Lawrence; 
and,  during  his  residence  in  the  colony,  which  was 
continued  to  1647,  he  was  employed  in  visiting  French 
settlements  at  a"  distance  from  Quebec.^  Another 
brother — Pierre — who  was  a  navigator,  also  resided 
in  Canada,  but  left  the  country  some  time  after  Mco- 
let's  death.2  The  widow  of  l!^icolet  was  married  at 
Quebec,  in  1646,  to  j^icholas  Macard. 

E^icolet's  discoveries,  although  not  immediately  fol- 
lowed up  because  of  the  hostility  of  the  Iroquois  and 
the  lack  of  the  spirit  of  adventure  in  Champlain's  suc- 
cessor, caused,  finally,  great  results.  He  had  unlocked 
the  door  to  the  Far  West,  where,  afterward,  were 
seen  the  fur-trader,  the  voyageur,  the  Jesuit  mission- 
ary, and  the  government  agent.  'New  France  was 
extended  to  the  Mississippi  and  beyond;  yet  I^Ticolet 
did  not  live  to  witness  the  progress  of  French  trade 
and  conquest  in  the  countries  he  had  discovered. 

The  name  of  the  family  of  Nicolet  appears  to 
have  been  extinguished  in  Canada,  with  the  departure 
of  M.  Gilles  Mcolet,  priest,  already  mentioned ;  but 
the  respect  which  the  worthy  interpreter  had  deserved 
induced  the  people  of  Three  Rivers  to  perpetuate  his 
memory.  The  example  had  been  given  before  his 
death.  "We  read  in  the  delation  of  1637  that  the  river 
St.  John,  near  Montreal  (now  the  river  Jesus),  took  its 

as  the  Jesuits  and  the  Recollets — whose  name  appears  on  the 
Quebec  parochial  register. 

^  Those  of  the  coast  of  Beaupre,  between  Beauporf  and  Cape 
Tourmente.     Ferland's  "Cours  D'Histoire  du  Canada,"  Vol.  I., 

pp.  276,  277. 

2  Suite's  "  Melanges  D'  Ilistoire  et  de  Litterature,"  p.  446.       '^ 
8 


90  DISCOVERY   OF    THE   NORTHWEST. 

name  from  John  Mcolet.  To-day  Canada  has  the  river, 
the  lake,  the  falls,  the  village,  the  city,  the  college,  and 
the  county  of  Nieolet.  ^  From  the  United  States — 
especially  from  the  Northwest — equal  honor  is  due. 

"  History  can  not  refrain  from  saluting  Nicolet  as  a 
disinterested  traveler,  who,  by  his  explorations  in  the 
interior  of  America,  has  given  clear  proofs  of  his 
energetic  character,  and  whose  merits  have  not  been 
disputed,  although  subsequently  they  w^ere  temporarily 
forgotten."  The  first  fruits  of  his  daring  were  gath- 
ered by  the  Jesuit  fathers  even  before  his  death  ;  for, 
in  the  autumn  of  1641,  those  of  them  who  were 
among  the  Ilurons  received  a  deputation  of  Indians 
occupying  '^  the  country  around  a  rapid,  in  the  midst 
of  the  channel  by  which  Lake  Superior  empties  into 
Lake   Huron,"   inviting  them   to   visit  their   tribe. 

^Benjamin  Suite,  in  t  Opinion  Pnbliquc,  1873.  The  writer  adds: 
*'  La  riviere  Nicolet  est  formee  de  deux  rivieres  qui  gardentcha- 
cune  ce  nom;  Tune  au  nord  est  sort  d'un  lac  appele  Nicolet,  dans 
le  comte  de  Wolfe,  township  de  Ham ;  I'autre,  celle  du  sud  ouest, 
qui  passe  dans  le  comte  de  Richmond,  a  donne  le  nom  de  Nico- 
let a  un  village  situe  sur  ses  bords,  dans  le  townshii^  de  Shipton. 
Ce  village  que  les  Anglais  nomment  'Nicolet  Falls'  est  un  cen- 
tre d'industrie  prospere.  La  villa  de  Nicolet,  ainsi  que  le  col- 
lege de  ce  nom,  sont  situes  pres  de  la  decharge  des  eaux  reunies 
de  ces  deux  rivieres  au  lac  Saint-Pierre. 

"  Peu  d'annees  apres  la  mort  de  Jean  Nicolet,  les  triflu- 
viens  donnaient  deja  son  nom  a  la  riviere  en  question,  malgre 
les  soins  que  prenaient  les  fonctionnaires  civils  de  ne  designer 
cet  endroit  que  par  les  mots  '  la  riviere  de  Laubia  ou  la  riviere 
Cresse.'  M.  de  Laubia  ne  concede  la  seigneurie  qu'en  1672,  et 
M.  Cresse  ne  I'obtint  que  plus  tard,  mais  avant  ces  deux  seign- 
eurs, la  riviere  portrait  le  nom  de  Nicolet,  et  I'usage  en  prevalut 
en  depit  des  tentatives  faites  pour  lui  imj^oser  d'autres  denomi- 
nations." 


nicolet's  subsequent  career  and  death.        91 

These  "  missionaries  were  not  displeased  with  the 
opportunity  thus  presented  of  knowing  the  countries 
lying  beyond  Lake  Huron,  which  no  one  of  them  had 
yet  traversed ;"  so  Isaac  Jogues  and  Charles  Raym- 
bault  were  detached  to  accompany  the  Chippewa  dep- 
uties, and  view  the  field  simply,  not  to  establish  a 
mission.  They  passed  along  the  shore  of  Lake  Hu- 
ron, northward,  and  pushed  as  far  up  St.  Mary's  strait 
as  the  '^  Sault,"  which  they  reached  after  seventeen 
days'  sail  from  their  place  of  starting.  There  they — 
the  first  white  men  to  visit  the  Northwest  after  Mco- 
let — harangued  two  thousand  of  that  nation,  and  other 
Algonquins.  Upon  their  return  to  the  St.  Lawrence, 
Jogues  was  captured  by  the  Iroquois,  and  Raymbault 
died  on  the  twenty-second  of  October,  1642 — a  few 
days  before  the  death  of  iTicolet. 


APPEIN^DIX. 

I.- — EXTRACTS  (LITERAL)  FROM -THE  PARISH    CHURCH   REGIS- 
TER, OF  THREE  RIVERS,  CANADA,  CONCERNING  NICOLET, 


"  Le  27  clu  mois  de  clecembre  1635,  fut  baptisee  par 
le  Pere  Jacques  Buteux  ^  line  petite  lille  iigee  d'envi- 
ron  deux  ans,  lille  du  capitaine  des  Montagnetz  Capi- 
tainal.^  Elle  fut  nommee  Marie  par  M.  de  Mauper- 
tuis  et  M.  Mcollet  ses  parrains.  Elle  s'appelait  en 
sauvage  8minag8m8c8c8."  ^ 

II. 

*'  Le  30  du  mois  de  Mai  1636,  une  jeune  Sauvagesse 
Algonquine  instruite  par  le  Pere  Jacques  Buteux,  fut 
baptisee  par  le  Pere  Claude  Quentin  et  nommee 
Fran9oise  par  M.  Nicollet  son  parrain."     [1637,  7th 

1  Father  Buteux  resided  in  Three  Eivers  from  the  year  of  the 
establishment  of  that  place,  1G34,  to  1G51  when,  on  his  second 
trip  to  the  upper  St.  Maurice  he  was  killed  by  the  Iroquois. 

^Capitanal,  chief  of  the  Montagnais  Indians,  is  the  man  who 
did  the  most  amongst  his  people  to  impress  upon  the  mind  of 
Champlain  the  necessity  of  erecting  a  fort  at3-Rivers.  He  died 
in  1635.     See  Relation,  1633,  p.  26;  1635,  p.  21. 

'The  figure  "  8"  -in  such  words  is,  as  before  mentioned,  sup- 
posed to  be  equivalent  to  "  w,"  "  we,"  or  "  oo,"  in  English.  Ante, 
p.  46,  note. 

(93) 


94  APPENDIX. 

October.     At   Quebec.     Marriage   of   Mcolet   with 
Marguerite  Couillard.] 

III. 

"  Le  18  novembre  1637  fut  baptisee  (par  le  Pere 
Claude  Pijart)  une  femme  Algonquine.  Elle  fut  nom- 
mee  Marie  par  iTi collet  son  parrain.  Elle  est  de- 
cedee." 

IV. 

^'  Le  18  decembre  1637  fut  baptise  par  le  Pere 
Jacques  Buteux  un  petit  Alonquin  age  d'environ 
deux  ans,  et  fut  nomme  Jean  par  M.  Nicollet.  II  est 
decMe." 

V. 

"  1638.  Le  19  de  mars,  jour  de  Saint-Joseph,  fut 
baptise  par  le  Pere  Jacques  Buteux,  dans  notre  clia- 
pelle  avec  les  ceremonies  de  I'Eglise,  Anisk8ask8si, 
et  fut  nomme  Paul  par  M.  I^icollet,  son  parrain ;  sa 
marraine  fut  mademoiselle  Marie  Le  ]^euf.^  B  est 
decede."  [The  Parish  Register  for  1638  stops  at  the 
date  of  24th  May,  the  remainder  being  lost.] 

VI. 

"  Le  9  Janvier  1639,  le  Pere  Jacques  Delaplace 
baptisa  solennellement,  en  notre  chapelle,  une  petite 
fille  agee  de  2  ans  appelee  ]N'itig8m8sta8an,  iille  de 
Papitchitikpabe8,  capitaine  de  la  Petite-iTation.     Elle 

^  Le  Neuf.  Name  of  a  large  family,  belonging  to  the  nobility. 
Jean  Godefroy  having  married  Marie  Le  Neuf,  they  all  came 
together  (36  people)  to  Canada,  when  the  branch  of  Le  Gar- 
dcur  settled  at  Quebec  and  that  of  Le  Neuf  proper  at  3-Rivers. 
Throughout  the  history  of  Canada,  we  met  with  members  of 
that  group. 


APPENDIX.  95 

fut  nommee  Louise  par  M.  Mcolet.     Sa  marraine  fut 
une  Sauvagesse  baptisee,  femme  de  feu  Thebachit." 

VII. 

^'  Le  4  mars  1639,  le  Eeverend  Pere  Jacques  Buteux 
baptisa  solennellement  en  notre  chappelle  les  deux  eu- 
fants  de  8ab8sch8stig8an,  Algonquin  de  I'lsle,  et 
Sk8esens,  sa  femme.  Le  fils  age  d'environ  quatre  ans 
fut  nomme  Thomas  par  M.  Nicolet,  et  Alizon/  et  la 
fille  kgee  d'environ  six  ans,  fut  nommee  Marguerite 
par  M.  de  Malapart  ^  et  Madame  Mcolet." 

VIII. 

"  1639.  Le  huitieme  Mars,  le  E.  P.  Buteux  baptiza 
solennellement  Nipiste8ignan  age  d'environ  vingt  ans, 
fils  de  Pran§ois  ^enascouat,^  habitant  de  Sillery. 
rran9ois  Marguerie  et  Madame  Nicolet  le  nommerent 
Vincent." 

IX. 

"  Le  20  mars  1639  le  R.  P.  Buteux  baptiza  solen- 
nellement en  notre  chapelle  Louis  Godefroy,  fils  de 
M.  Jean  Godefroy^  et  de  Damoisselle  Marie  Le  'NenL 

1  Alizon  is  the  family  name  of  the  wife  of  Gourdin,  the  brewer, 
who  resided  at  the  Fort  of  Three-Rivers  as  early  as  1G34. 

2  Malapart  was  at  that  time  acting  as  governor  of  the  post. 

*  Nenascoumat,  an  Indian  chief,  is  much  connected  with  the 
history  of  the  first  settlement  of  his  people  at  3-Rivers  and  Sil- 
lery, from  1634  to  about  1650. 

*  Jean  Godefroy,  the  principal  man  who  caused  French  people 
to  come  direct  from  France  to  settle  at  Three-Rivers,  as  early  as 
1636.  He  had  been  in  Canada  for  many  years  before.  His 
brother  Thomas  is  well  known  in  the  history  of  those  years  for  his 
services  both  to  the  missionaries  and  to  the  colonists:  he  was 


96  APPENDIX. 

Son  parrain  fnt  Thomas  Godefroy,  et  sa  marraine 
Madame  Marguerite  Nicolet." 

X. 

"Anno  Domini  1639  die  16  Julii,  Ego  Claudius 
Pijart  vices  agens  parochi  ecclesise  B.  Y.  Conceptee  ad 
Tria  Flumina  baptizavit  cum  ceremoniis,  Ognatem,  4 
circiter  menses,  natem  patre  8kar8st8,  de  la  Petite- 
Nation,  et  matre  SsasamitSnSkSeS.  Partrinus  fuit  D. 
Jaunes  Mcolets  Interp." 

XI. 

"  1639.  Anno  Domini  1639,  di  20  julii  Ego  Clau- 
dius Pijart  vices  agens  parochi  ecclesise  Beatge  Yirginis 
Conceptse  ad  Tria  Flumina  baptizavit  cum  ceremo- 
niis Marinum,  filium  patria  insularibus;  patrinus 
idem  qui  supra  Joannes  Mcolet.  Infant  natus  2 
menses.     II  est  decede." 

XII. 

"  Anno  Domini  1639,  die  30.  Julii,  Ego  Jacobus 
Buteux  vices  agens  parochi  ecclesise  B.  Y.  C.  at  Tria 
Flumina,  baptizavit  Algonquinensen  natum  40  cir- 
citer annos  nomine  Abdom  Chibanagouch,  patria  in- 
sularem,  quem  nominavit  Dominus  Joannes  I^icolet 
nunc  Joseph  SmasatickSe."  [1639.  9th  October.  ISTic- 
olet  was  present  at  the  wedding  of  Jean  Joliet  and 
Marie  d'Abancour,  at  Quebec.  Louis  Joliet,  son  of 
the  above,  was  the  discoverer  of  the  Upper  Missis- 
sippi.] 

burned  by  the  Iroquois.  Louis,  son  of  Jean,  became  King's  At- 
torney. Jean  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  nobleman  by  Louis  XIV. 
His  descendants  are  still  in  the  district  of  3-Rivers, 


APPENDIX.  97 


XIII. 


"  1639.  Die  7  Decembris.  Ego  Jacobus  Buteux 
baptizavit  infentem  annum  circiter  natum,  nomine 
Ombrosuim  KatankSquich,  filium  defuncti  8taga- 
mechkS,  patria  88echkarini,  quedu  educat  ]N"8ncheak8s 
mulier  patria  insulare,  patrinus  fuit  Joannes  Mcolet." 

XIV. 

*^  1640.  Die  6  Januarii,  ego  Jacobus  Buteux,  bap- 
tizavit cum  ceremoniis  Mariam  IkSesens  patria  insu- 
larem  natam  circiter  28  annos,  cujus  patrinus  fuit 
Joannes  Mcolet  et  Joanna  La  Meslee,^  exur  pistoris. 
Elle  est  avec  Stcbakin." 

XV. 

**Anno  1640,  4  Decemb.  statim  post  portam  mor- 
tuus  sepultus  in  ccemeterio  item  filius  Domini  Joannis 
Nicolet  interpretis."  [In  the  margin  is  written :  "  Ig- 
nace  l!^icolet."] 

XVI. 

"Anno  1640.  Die  14  Januarii,  ego  Carolus  Raym- 
baut^  baptizavi  cum  cseremoniis  Franciscummissameg 
natum  circiter  4  annos  iilium  ChingSa  defuncti,  patria 

^Christophe  Crevier,  sieur  de  la  Melee,  settled  in  3-Rivers 
in  1639.  Like  that  of  Godefroy,  the  family  became  very 
numerous  and  prosperous.  The  descendants  of  Crevier  still  ex- 
ist in  the  district  of  3-Riv.  Fran9ois  Crevier,  born  13th  May 
1640  was  killed  by  the  Iroquois  in  Three  Rivers  when  13 
years  old  only. 

2  Father  Raymbault  is  the  same  that  accompanied  Father  Jo- 
gues  in  the  spring  of  the  year  1642  to  what  is   now  Sault   Ste. 
Marie,  Michigan.     He  died,  it  will  be  remembered,  in  the  fall 
of  1642.     Ante,  p.  91. 
9 


98  APPENDIX. 

KliinSchebink    educatur    apucl    8abirini8ich 


Patrinus  fuit  D.  Franciscus  de  Champflour^  modera- 
tor; matrina  Margarita  Couillard  uxor  D.  i^icoletin- 
terpretis." 

XVII. 

"  14o.  die  Maii  1640.  Ego  Carolus  Raymbault  bap- 
tisavi  cum  ceeremoniis  Franciscum  pridie  natum  fil- 
ium  Christophori  Crevier  pistoris,  Et  Joanna  Ennart 
conjugum  Rothomagensium.  Patrinus  fuit  Dominus 
Franciscum  de  Champflour  moderator  et  Dna  Mar- 
garita Couillard  conjux  interpretis  (est  in  Galliae)." 
[On  the  2d  day  of  September,  1640  ;N"icolet  was  pres- 
ent at  Quebec  at  the  wedding  of  Nicolas  Bonhomme.] 

XVIII. 

*'Anno  Domini  1640  die  25  Decembris,  ipso  Jesu 
Domini  N'ostri  Kativitatis  die  ego  Joannes  Dequen, 
Societatis  Jesu  sacerdos  vices  agens  Rectoris  Ecclesise 
conceptionis  beatse  Virginis  ad  Tria  Flumina  dicta, 
baptizavi  solemniter  in  eodem  ecclesia  Paulum  8abir- 
im8ich  annum  Trigesimum  cerciterquintumdoctrinse 
Christianse  rudimentis  sufRcienter  instructum.  Patri- 
nus fuit  Joannes  Mcolet,  interpret,  huic  nomen  Pauli 
impasuit;  matrina  fuit  Maria  Le  Neuf." 

XIX. 

*'Anno  Domini  1641  dia  lo  Aprilis.  Ego  Josephus 
Poncet,  Societatis  Jesu,  baptizavi  puellam  recens  na- 
tam  patre  Abdon  8maskik8eia,  matre  Michtig8k8e, 

^  Champflour  left  for  France  in  the  autumn  of  1645.  For  sev- 
eral years,  he  had  been  governor  of  3-Rivers. 


APPENDIX.  99 

nomen  Cecilia  impositum  est.  Patrinus  fuit  .  .  , 
Lavallee ;  ^  Matrina  Margarita  Couillard  uxor  Joan- 
nis  Nicolet  interpretis." 

XX. 

"lo  Aprilis  Anno  1642  Ego  Josephus  Poncet  So- 
cietatis  Jesu,  in  ecclesise  immaculatae  conceptionis  B. 
V.  Mariee,  baptisavi  puellum  recens  natam.  Patre 
Joannes  Nicolet.  Matre  Margarita  Couillard  ejus 
uxor.  I^omen  Margarita  impositum.  Patrinus  fuit 
Dnus  Jacobus  Ertel;^  matrina  Dna  Joanna  Le  Mar- 
chand,^  viduse  Dni  Leneuf." 

XXI. 

"  Tertio  Julii  Anni  1642,  ego  Joannes  de  Brebeuf, 
Societatis  Jesu,  tunc  vices  agens  paroclii  in  ecclesise 
Immaculatse  Conceptionis  ad  Tria  Flumina  baptisavi 
infantem  recens  natam.  Patre  Duo  Jacobo  Hartel. 
Matre  Marie  Marguerie  ^  ejus  uxore.  Nomine  Fran- 
cisco impositum.  Patrinus  fuit:  Franciscus  Mar- 
guerye,  infantio  avanculus  ;  matrina  Margarita  Couil- 
lart  domini  Joannis  jN'icolet  uxor." 

*  -laude  Jutra  lit  Lavallee  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  3- 
Rivers,  where  his  descendants  still  exist. 

Jacques  Hertel,  married  to  Marie  Marguerie.  He  held 
land  at  3-Rivers  before  the  foundation  of  the  Fort.  Died 
1652.  His  son  Francois  was  one  of  the  greatest  sons  of  Canada. 
Louis  XIV.  made  him  a  nobleman.  His  descendants  are  still 
in  Canada.  Like  Godefroy,  Crevier,  and  Le  Neuf,  the  Hertels 
have  held  their  position  for  250  years. 

^Jeanne  Le  Marchand,  widow,  was  the  mother  of  Le  Keuf. 

^FranQois  Marguerie  succeeded  Nicolet  as  Interpreter  at  3- 
Rivers.  He  has  left  his  name  to  a  river  flowing  into  the  St. 
Lawrence,  in  the  county  of  Nicolet  opposite  the  town  of  3-Rivers. 


100  APPENDIX. 


XXII. 


"Anno  Domini  1642,  29  Septembris,  Ego  Joan- 
nes de  Brebeuf,  Societatis  Jesu  sacerclos,  baplisavi 
solemniter  in  ecclesise  Immaculata  Conceptionis  ad 
Tria  Fluraina,  duos  puellas  recens  nata,  unum  ex  patre 
Augustino  ChipakSetch  et  matre  8t8ribik8e ;  Alizon 
dicta  est  a  patrinis  Joanne  Mcolet  et  Perretta  Alte- 
ram vero  ex  patre  KSerasing  et  SinclikSck  matre 
Lucia  dicta  est  a  Patrinus  J^icolao  Marsolet  ^  et  Mar- 
garita Couillard,  uxor  Domini  Nicolet." 


II. — FIRST    CONNECTED    SKETCH     PUBLISHED    OF    THE    LIFE 
AND   EXPLORATION   OF   NICOLET.^ 

[Du  Creux  states  that,  in  the  last  months  of  1642, 
"New  France  mourned  for  two  men  of  no  common 
character,  who  were  snatched  away  from  her ;  that 
one  of  them,  who  died  first,  of  disease,  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Society  of  Jesuits ;  and  that  the  other, 
although  a  layman,  was  distinguished  by  singularly 

*  Nicolas  Marsolet,  connected,  as  an  interpreter,  with  3-Rivers, 
but  mostly  with  Tadoussac  and  Quebec. 

2  Translated  from  Du  Creux"  Hist,  of  Canada  (printed  in  Latin, 
in  Paris,  1664),  p.  358.  That  his  account  should  not  sooner  have 
awakened  the  curiosity  of  students  of  American  history  is  due 
to  the  fact  previously  mentioned,  that  not  until  the  investigations 
of  John  Gilmary  Shea,  in  1853,  were  the  "Ouinipigou"  identified 
as  the  "  Winnebagoes,"  and  their  having  been  visited  by  Nico- 
let  established.  It  was  this  locating  of  the  objective  point 
of  Nicolet's  exploration  on  American  soil  that  finally  stimulated 
American  writers  to  further  research;  though,  to  the  present 
time,  Canadian  historians  have  taken  the  lead  in  investigations 
concerning  the  indomitable  Frenchman. 


APPENDIX.  ;     .  101 

meritorious  acts  towards  the  India;ii  tri1b,es^of  Canada., 
He  sketches  briefly  the  career  and  chjarac^tp^  pf '  IT/^-^ 
ther  Haymbault,  the  Jesuit,  first  referred  to,  who  died 
at  Quebec  in  the  latter  part  of  October.  The  second 
person  alluded  to  was  Mcolet.  Of  him  he  gives  the^ 
following  account :] 

"  He  had  spent  twenty-five  years  in  !N'ew  France,  and 
had  always  been  a  useful  person.  On  his  first  arrival, 
by  orders  of  those  who  presided  over  the  French 
colony  of  Quebec,  he  spent  two  whole  years  among 
the  Algonquins  of  the  Island,  for  the  purpose  of 
learning  their  language,  without  any  Frenchman  as 
a  companion,  and  in  the  midst  of  those  hardships, 
which  may  be  readily  conceived,  if  we  will  reflect 
what  it  must  be  to  ]Dass  severe  winters  in  the  woods, 
under  a  covering  of  cedar  or  birch  bark;  to  have 
one's  means  of  subsistence  dependent  upon  hunting ; 
to  be  perpetually  hearing  rude  outcries ;  to  be  de- 
prived of  the  pleasant  society  of  one's  own  people ; 
and  to  be  constantly  exposed,  not  only  to  derision 
and  insulting  words,  but  even  to  daily  peril  of  life. 
There  was  a  time,  indeed,  when  he  went  without 
food  for  a  whole  week ;  aiid  (what  is  really  wonder- 
ful) he  even  spent  seven  weeks  without  having  any 
thing  to  eat  but  a  little  bark.  After  this  preliminary 
training  ^  was  completed,  being  sent  with  four  hun- 
dred Algonquins  to  the  Iroquois  to  treat  of  peace,  he 
performed  his  mission  successfully.  Soon  after,  he 
went  to  the  Mpissiriens,  and  spent  seven  years  with 
them,  as  an  adopted  member  of  their  tribe.     He  had 

^  Tirocinium  is  the  first  campaign  of  the  young  soldier ;  and  so, 
generally,  the  first  period  of  trial  in  any  life  of  danger  and  hard- 
ship.— Translator. 


102  APPENDIX. 

his  own  small  estate,  wigwam,  and  household  stuff, 
V^  3^^1  omenta  \fo I*  hunting  and  fishing,  and,  no  douht, 
his  own  beaver  skins,  with  the  same  right  of  trade  as 
the  rest ;  in  a  word,  he  was  taken  into  their  counsels ; 
until,  being  recalled,  by  the  rulers  of  the  French 
colony,  he  was  at  the  same  time  made  a  commissary 
and  charged  to  perform  the  office  of  an  interpreter. 

"  During  this  period,  at  the  command  of  the  same 
rulers,  he  had  to  make  an  excursion  to  certain  mari- 
time tribes,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  peace  between 
them  and  the  Hurons.  The  region  where  those  peo- 
ples dwell  is  nearly  three  hundred  leagues  distant, 
toward  the  west,  from  the  same  Hurons ;  and  after 
he  had  associated  himself  with  seven  ambassadors  of 
these  [i.  e,,  of  the  Hurons],  having  saluted  on  their 
route  various  small  nations  which  they  fell  in  with, 
and  having  propitiated  them  with  gifts — lest,  if  they 
should  omit  this,  they  might  be  regarded  as  enemies, 
and  assailed  by  all  whom  they  met — when  he  was  two 
days  distant,  he  sent  forward  one  of  his  own  com- 
pany to  make  known  to  the  nation  to  which  they 
were  going,  that  a  European  ambassador  was  ap- 
proaching with  gifts,  who,  in  behalf  of  the  Hurons, 
desired  to  secure  their  friendship.  The  embassy  was 
received  with  applause ;  young  men  were  immediately 
sent  to  meet  them,  who  were  to  carry  the  baggage 
and  equipment  of  the  Manitouriniou  (or  wonderful 
man),  and  escort  him  with  honor.  Mcolet  Avas  clad 
in  a  Chinese  robe  of  silk,  skillfully  ornamented  with 
birds  and  flowers  of  many  colors ;  he  carried  in  each 
hand  a  small  pistol.^     When  he  had  discharged  these, 

*  It  may  be  interesting  to  the  reader  to  know  how  pistols  are 


APPENDIX.  103 

tlie  more  timid  persons,  boys  and  women  betook 
themselves  to  flight,  to  escape  as  quickly  as  possible 
from  a  man  who  (they  said)  carried  the  thunder 
in  both  his  hands.  But,  the  rumor  of  his  coming 
having  spread  far  and  wide,  the  chiefs,  with  their  fol- 
lowers, assembled  directly  to  the  number  of  four  or 
five  thousand  persons ;  and,  the  matter  having  been 
discussed  and  considered  in  a  general  council,  a 
treaty  was  made  in  due  form.  Afterwards  each  of 
the  chiefs  gave  a  banquet  after  their  fashion ;  and  at 
one  of  these,  strange  to  say,  a  hundred  and  twenty 
beavers  were  eaten. 

"  His  object  being  accomplished,  Mcolet  returned  to 
the  Hurons,  and,  presently,  to  Three  Rivers,  and  re- 
sumed both  of  his  former  functions,  viz.,  as  com- 
missary- and  interpreter,  being  singularly  beloved  by 
both  the  French  and  the  natives ;  specially  intent 
upon  this,  that,  uniting  his  industry,  and  the  very 
great  influence  which  he  possessed  over  the  savages, 
with  the  eflbrts  of  the  fathers  of  the  Society  [Jesuits], 
he  might  bring  as  many  as  he  could  to  the  Church ;  un- 
til, upon  the  recall  to  France  of  Olivier,  who  was  the 
chief  commissary  of  Quebec,  Mcolet,  on  account  of 
his  merits,  was  appointed  in  his  place.  But  he  was 
not  long  allowed  to  enjoy  the  Christian  comfort  he 
had  so  greatly  desired,  viz.,  that  at  Quebec  he  might 
frequently  attend  upon  the  sacraments  as  his  pious 
soul  desired,  and  that  he  might  enjoy  the  society  of 
those  with  whom  he  could  converse  upon  divine 
things. 

described  in  the  author's  Latin:  "Sclopos  minores,  exiis  qui 
tacta  vel  leviter  rotula  exploduntier." — Translator. 


104  APPENDIX. 

"  On  the  last  day  of  October,  having  embarked  npon 
a  pinnace  at  the  seventh  hour  of  the  afternoon  (as  we 
French  reckon  the  hours),  i.  e.,  just  as  the  shades  of 
evening  were  falling,  hastening,  as  I  have  said,  to 
Three  Rivers  upon  so  pious  an  errand,  scarcely  had 
he  arrived  in  sight  of  Sillery,  when,  the  north  wind 
blowing  more  fiercely,  and  increasing  the  violence 
of  the  storm  which  had  commenced  before  Nicolet 
started,^  the  pinnace  was  whirled  around  two  or 
three  times,  filled  with  water  from  all  directions,  and 
finally  w^as  swallowed  up  by  the  waves.  Some  of 
those  on  board  escaped,  among  them  Savigny, 
the  owner  of  the  j)innace;  and  Nicolet,  in  that 
time  of  extreme  peril,  addressing  him  calmly  said: 
"  Savigny,  since  you  know  how  to  swim,  by  all 
means  consult  your  own  safety;  I,  who  have  no 
such  skill,  am  going  to  God ;  I  recommend  my  wife 
and  daughter  to  your  kindness."  In  the  midst  of 
this  conversation,  a  wave  separated  them;  l^icolet 
was  drowned;  Savigny,  who,  from  horror  and  the 
darkness  of  the  night,  did  not  know  where  he  was, 
was  torn  by  the  violence  of  the  waves  from  the  boat, 
to  which  he  had  clung  for  some  time ;  then  he  strug- 
gled for  a  while,  in  swimming,  with  the  hostile  force 
of  the  changing  waves ;  until,  at  last,  his  strength 
failing,  and  his  courage  almost  forsaking  him,  he 
made  a  vow  to  God  (but  what  it  was  is  not  related) ; 
then,  striking  the  bottom  of  the  stream  with  his  foot, 

^"Borea  flaute  pertinacius,  foedamque  tempestatem,  quam  ex- 
ciere  gam  ceperat,  glomerante."  Literally,  perhaps,  "  the  north 
wind  blowing  more  persistently,  and  gathering  into  a  mass  the 
dark  storm  which  it  had  already  begun  to  collect." — Translator. 


APPENDIX.  105 

lie  reached  the  bank  ^  at  that  spot,  and,  forcing  his 
way  with  difficulty  through  the  edge  of  the  stream, 
already  frozen,  he  crept,  half  dead,  to  the  humble 
abode  of  the  fathers.  Restoratives  were  immediately 
applied,  such  as  were  at  hand,  especially  fire,  which 
was  most  needed ;  but,  as  the  cold  weather  and  the 
water  had  almost  destroyed  the  natural  warmth,  he 
could  only  manifest  his  thoughts  for  some  time  by 
motions  and  not  by  speech,  and  so  kept  the  minds  of 
the  anxious  fathers  in  doubt  of  his  meaning ;  until, 
recovering  his  speech,  he  explained  what  had  hap- 
pened with  a  strong  expression  of  ITicolet's  Chris- 
tian courage. 

"■  The  prisoner  for  whose  sake  ITicolet  had  exposed 
himself  to  this  deadly  peril,  twelve  days  afterwards 
reached  Sillery,  and  soon  after  Quebec — having  been 
rescued  from  the  cruelty  of  the  Algonquins  by  Ru- 
pseus,  who  was  in  command  at  Three  liivers,  in  pur- 
suance of  letters  from  Montmagny,  on  payment,  no 
doubt,  of  a  ransom.  He  was  already  disfigured  with 
wounds,  great  numbers  of  which  these  most  savage 
men  had  inflicted  upon  him  with  careful  ingenuity, 
one  after  another,  according  to  their  custom  ;  but  in 
proportion  to  the  barbarity  which  he  had  experienced 
at  Three  Rivers  was  the  kindness  which  he  afterwards 
met  with  at  Quebec,  where  he  was  treated  by  the 
monks  of  the  hospital  in  such  a  manner  that  he  was 
healed  within  about  twenty  days,  and  was  able  to  re- 
turn to  his  own  people.     .     .     . 

^'  This,  moreover,  was  not  the  first  occasion  on  which 

^  The  word  "  littus  "  here  is  properly  used,  not  of  the  dry  land, 
but  of  the  sloping  land  under  the  water,  near  the  edge  of  the 
river. — Translator. 


106  APPENDIX. 

^N'icolet  had  encountered  peril  of  his  life  for  the 
safety  of  savages.  He  had  frequently  done  the  very 
same  thing  before,  says  the  French  writer;  and  to 
those  with  whom  he  associated  he  left  proofs  of  his 
virtues  by  such  deeds  as  could  hardly  be  expected  of 
a  man  entangled  in  the  bonds  of  marriage ;  they  were 
indeed  eminent,  and  rose  to  the  height  of  apostolic 
perfection ;  and,  therefore,  was  the  loss  of  so  great  a 
man  the  more  grievous.  Certain  it  is  that  the  sav- 
ages themselves,  as  soon  as  they  heard  what  had  be- 
fallen him,  surrounded  the  bank  of  the  great  river  in 
crowds,  to  see  whether  they  could  render  any  aid. 
When  all  hope  of  that  was  gone,  they  did  what  alone 
remained  in  their  power,  by  incredible  manifestations 
of  grief  and  lamentation  at  the  sad  fate  of  the  man 
who  had  deserved  so  well  of  them." 


INDEX. 


Alizon,  M.,  95,  100. 

Algonquin?.,  viii,  17,  36,  42,  60,  62,  69,  76,  77,  87. 

Algonquins  of  the  Isles  des  Alhimettes,  18,  28,  29,  46. 

Allouez,  Father  Claudius,  64,  67,  69. 

Amikoiiai,  "Nation  of  the  Beaver,"  50,  51,  54. 

An  account  of  the  French  settlements  in  North  America  (1746),  cited, 
32. 

A8eatsi8aenrrhonon  (Aweatsiwaerrhonon),  Huron  name  for  the 
Winnebagoes,  45,  46,  60. 

Assiniboins,  not  visited  by  Nicolet,  71. 

Atchiligoiian,  an  Algonquin  nation,  50. 

Bay  des  Puants  (Baio  des  Puants).     See  Green  Bay. 

Beaver  Nation,  45,  48,  50,  51,  54,  63. 

Bonhomme,  Nicholas,  98. 

Brebeuf,  John  de,  20,  24,  41,  46,  100. 

Buteux,  Father  James,  78,  80,  93,  94,  95,  96,  97. 

Cabot,  John,  viii,  ix. 

Cabot,  Sebastian,  ix. 

Caens,  the,  21. 

Capitanal,  a  Montagnais  chief,  93. 

Cartier,  James,  11,  12,  13,  14,  15. 

Champlain's  Map  of  1632,  referred  to,  31,  35,  36,  38,  51,  52,  53,  54, 
62,  64,  66,  70. 

Champlain,  Samuel,  makes,  in  1603,  a  survey  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
16;  in  1608,  founds  Quebec,  17;  attacks  the  Iroquois,  in  1609,  ib.; 
returns,  in  1610,  to  France,  18;  in  1611  again  reaches  tlie  St. 
Lawrence,  ib.;  soon  sails  back  to  France,  ib.;  in  1613,  once  more 
reaches  the  St. 'Lawrence,  ib.;  explores  the  Ottawa  to  the  Isle 
des  Allumettes,  t6. ;  embarks  for  France,  ib. ;  in  1615,  again 
sails  for  New  France,  19 ;  visits  the  Hurons,  ib.;  attacks,  with 
those  Indians,  the  Iroquois,  ?6,;  returns  to  Quebec,  20;  a  new 
government  for  New  France,  21 ;  Champlain  one  of  the  Hun- 
dred Associates,  22;  he  defends  Quebec  against  the  English,  23; 

(107) 


108  INDEX. 

next  year  he  surrenders  the  town,  ib.;  taken  a  prisoner  to  Eng- 
land, 24  ;  in  1033,  resumes  command  iii  New  France,  ib.;  resolves 
to  explore  the  west,  ib.;  in  lHo4,  sends  Nicolet  to  the  Winne- 
bagoes,  39;  death  of  Champlain,  75. 

Champlain's  Voyar/es  of  1613,  cited,  36;  Voyages  of  1632,  cited,  30, 
38,  51,  52,  04,  00,  73. 

Charlevoix'  CaHe  des  Lacs  du  Canada,  referred  to,  57;  also,  his 
Nuuvelle  France,  ib. 

Chauvin,  a  captain  of  the  French  marine,  15. 

Chevenx  Keleves  (Standing  Hair — Ottawas),  52,  53,  54,  73. 

Chippewas,  38,  53,  54,  55,  90,  91. 

Cioux.     See  Sioux. 

Columbus,  Chi-istopher,  viii. 

Company  of  New  France,  21. 

Copper  and  copper  mine  early  known  to  the  Indians,  36. 

Cortereal,  Caspar,  ix. 

Couillard,  Guillaume,  82. 

Couillard,  Marguerite,  81,  84,  94,  98,  99,  100. 

Coureurs  de  bois,  41. 

Cresse,  M.,  90. 

Crevier,  Fran9ois,  97. 

Daniel,  Antoine.  a  Jesuit  priest,  41,  80. 

Dakotas  (Dacotahs. — See  Sioux),  viii,  62,  71. 

Davost,  a  Jesuit,  41. 

De  Caen,  Emery,  20,  24,  32. 

De  Caen,  William,  20. 

De  Champfleur,  Fran9ois,  98. 

De  Chasteaufort,  Bras-de-fer,  75. 

De  Courtemanche,  Augustin  le,  84. 

De  Gand,  Fran9ois  Derre,  82. 

Delaplace,  .lacques,  94. 

De  Laubin,  M.,  90. 

De  la  Roche,  the  Marquis,  15. 

De  hi  Roque,  John  Francis,  see  Lord  of  Roberval. 

De  Malapart,  M.,  95. 

De  Maupertius,  M  ,  93. 

De  Repentigny,  Jean-Baptiste  I'Gardeur,  84. 

Des  Roches,  M.,  85,  88. 

Des  Gens  Puants  (Des  Gens  Puans — Des  Puants — Des  Puans).  Seo 
Wiunebagoes. 


INDEX.  109 

Du  Creux'  Hist  of  Canada  {Historia  Canadensis),  cited,  29,  60, 100,  e?! 

seq. 
Du  Creiix'  Map  of  1660,  referred  to,  51,  53,  55,  73,- 
Eiiitajghe,  Iroquois  name  for  Green  Ba}',  56. ,.. 
Kstiaghicks,  Iroquois  name  of  the  Chippewas,  53. 
Fire  Nations  (Les  Gens  de  Feu).     See  Mascoutins. 
Foster's  Mississippi  Valley,  cited,  59. 
Fox  River  of  Green  Bay,  61,  64,  66,  67,  68,  70. 
Fox  Indians  (Outagamis — Les  Renards — Musquakies),  64,  65,  66. 
Fur-trade,  the,  22. 
Ferland's  C>urs  d  Histoiredii  Cinnda^  cited,  27,  82,  89;  also,  his  Notes 

sur  les  Registres  de  Notre-Daive  de  (Quebec,  27,  82,  85. 
Gens  de  Mer  (Gens  de  Eaux  de  Mer).     See  Winnebagoes. 
Godefroy,  Jean,  94,  95. 
Godefroy,  Louis,  95. 
Godetroy,  Thomas,  96, 
Gravier's  Dlcouvn-tes  ct  Etahlissement  de  Cavalier  de  la  >S'a We,  cited, 

82;  his  Map  by  Jol'et,  referred  to,  55,  59. 
Green  Bay,  56,  60,  62,  69,  70. 
Guitet,  a  notar}^  records  of,  27,  82. 
Hebert,  Guilleme,  82. 
Hebert,  Guillamet,  82. 
llertel,  Jacques,  99. 
Hertel,  Fran9ois,  99. 

Horoji  (  Hochungara — Winnebagoes),  60. 
Huboust,  Guillaume,  82. 
Hundred  Associates  (Hundred  Partners),  21,  22,  23,  24,  25,  31,  39,42, 

76,  82. 
Hurons,  17,  19,  21,  23,  36,  42,  43,  47,  48,  49,  51,  62,  63,  69,  76,  77,  102, 

103 
Illinois  (Indians),  70. 
Iroquois,  17,  18,  20,  29,  38,  44,  51,  76. 
Jesuits,  the,  68,  80,  85. 
Jesuit  Relations,  the,  27. 
Jesuit  Relations,  c\iQ&:  1633—93;  1635—44,40,  93;  1636—30,45,60, 

77,78,79,  80;   1037—78,  80,  81;  1638—80;  1639—60;  1640—38, 

45,48,  50,  51,  53,  56,  57,  62,  67,  68,   69,   70,  72,  73;  1641—82; 

1642—53;   1643—26,  27,  28,  30,  47,  48,  49,  58,  60,  62,  72,  74,  78,  83, 

84,85,86,87,88;  1648-38,53;  1654—38,69;  1056—62,70;  1670 

—64,  67,  69 ;  1671—53,  56,  64. 
Joliet,  Jean,  96. 


110  INDEX. 

Joliet,  Louis,  68,  69,  96. 

Joques,  Father  Isaac,  91,  97. 

Juchereau,  Noel,  82. 

Kaukauna,  town  of,  65. 

Kirk,  David,  23. 

Kickapoos  (Kikabou,  Kikapou,  Quicapou,  Kickapoux,  Kickapous, 
Kikapoux,  Quicpouz),  67, 

La  I?a3'e  (La  Baye  des  Eaux  Puantes — La  Grande  Baie — La  Baye  des 
Puans — Lay  Baye  des  Puants).     See  Green  Bay. 

Lake  JNlichigan  (Lake  of  the  Illinois — Lake  8t.  Joseph — Lake  Dau- 
phin— Lac  des  Illinois — Lac  Missihiganin — Magnus  Lacus  Al- 
gonquinorum),  55,  56,  66,  69,  70,  72. 

Lake  Superior,  54. 

Lake  Winnebago  (Lake  of  the  Puants — Lake  St.  Francis),  62,  65. 

La  Marchand,  Jeanne,  99. 

La  Melee,  Christopher  Crevier,  Sieur  de,  97. 

La  Mer,  Marguerite,  27. 

La  Mer,  Maria,  27. 

La  Nation  des  Puans  (La  Nation  des  Puants).    See  Winnebagoes. 

La  Noue,  Annie  de,  24,  41. 

La  Porte,  Pierre  de,  82. 

La  Vallee,  Claude,  99. 

Lavidiere's  Reprint  of  Champlnin's  Works,  referred  to,  36.       * 

Le  Caron,  Father  Joseph,  19,  20. 

Les  Folles  Avoine.     See  Menomonees. 

Le  Jeune,  Paul,  24,  41,  80.  ' 

Le  Neuf,  family  of,  94. 

Le  Neuf,  Maria.  91,  95.  98. 

Le  Tardif,  Olivier,  82,  83,  84,  103. 

Lord  of  Roberval,  14,  15. 

Lippincott's  Gazetteer,  cited,  33. 

Mackinaw,  Straits  of,  55. 

Macard,  Nicolas,  84,  100. 

Manitoulin  Islands,  50,51. 

Ikfantoue  (Mantoueouee—  Makoueoue),  tribe  of,  56. 

Marguerie,  Fran9ois,  95,  99. 

Margucrie,  Maria,  99. 

Margry,  Pierre,  in  Journal  General  de  V Insirtiction  Publique,  29,  72,84. 

IMarquetto,  Father  James,  68,  69. 

Marsolet,  Nicolas,  84,  100. 

Mascoutins   CMacoutins — Mascoutens — Maskcutcns  —  Maskoutcins — 


INDEX.  Ill 

Musquetens — Machkoutens — Maskoutench— Machkoutenck—Les 
Gens  de  Feu — The  Fire  Nation — Assistagueronons — Assistaeiiro- 
nons),  51,  52,  63,  64,  65,  66,  67,  68,  69,  70. 

Masse,  the  Jesuit,  41. 

Menomonees  (Maromine — Malhominies — Les  Folles  Avoine),  57,  58. 

Miamis,  67. 

Michigan,  signification  of  the  word,  65. 

Mississippi,  meaning  of  the  word,  67. 

Montmagnais,  36,  41. 

Montmagny,  M.  de,  70,  75,  76,  77,  105. 

Nantoue.     See  Mantoue. 

Nation  des  Puans  (Nation  des  Puants — Nation  of  Stinkards).  See 
Winnebagoes. 

Nation  du  Castor  (Nation  of  Beavers).    See  Beaver  Nation. 

Nation  of  the  Sault.     See  Chippewas. 

Nenascoumat,  an  Indian  chief,  95. 

Neutral  Nation,  51,  61,  65. 

Nez  Perces  (Naiz  percez).     See  Beaver  Nation. 

Nicolet,  Gilles,  88,  89. 

Nicolet,  John,  arrives  in  New  [France,  26;  sent  by  Champlain,  in 
1618,  to  the  Algonquins  of  Isle  des  Allumettes,  28;  goes  on  a 
mission  of  peace  to  the  Iroquois,  29 ;  takes  up  his  residence  with 
the  Nipissings,  ib.;  recalled  by  the  government  to  Quebec,  30; 
employed  as  interpreter,  ib.;  Champlain  resolves  to  send  him  on 
a  western  exploration,  33;  Nicolet  had  heard  of  the  Winneba- 
goes, 39;  prepares,  in  June,  1634,  to  visit  tliis  and  other  nations, 
40;  starts  upon  his  journey,  42;  why  it  must  have  been  in  1634 
that  Nicolet  made  his  westward  exploration,  t6.,  e^  sej-./  travels 
Uj)  the  Ottawa  to  the  Isle  des  Allumettes,  46;  goes  hence  to  the 
Huron  villages,  47;  object  of  his  mission  there,  48;  starts  for  the 
Winnebagoes,  49;  reaches  Sault  Sainte  Marie,  51;  did  he  see 
Lake  Superior?  54;  discovers  Lake  Michigan,  55;  arrives  at  the 
Menomonee  river,  56;  ascends  Green  Bay  to  theht)mes  of  the  Win- 
nebagoes, 60;  has  a  great  feast  with  the  Indians,  62;  goes  up  Fox 
river  to  theMascoutins,  63;  visits  the  Illinois  tribe,  71 ;  returns  to 
the  Winnebagoes,  ib.;  Nicolet's  homeward  trip  in  1635 — he  calls 
upon  the  Pottawattaniies,  72;  stops  at  the  Great  Manatoulin  to  see 
a  band  of  Ottawas,  73 ;  reaches  the  St.  Lawrence  in  safety,  74 ;  set- 
tles at  Three  Kivers  as  interpreter,  77  ;  his  kindness  to  the  Indians, 
78;  has  a  narrow  escape  from  drowning,  81 ;  helps  defend  Three 
Rivers  from  an   Iroquois   attack,  ih.;  his  marriage,  t6. ;  goes  to 


112  INDEX. 

Quebec,  82  ;  becomes  General  Commissary  of  the  Hundred  Part- 
ners, ib.;  embarks  for  Three  Kivers,  83;  his  death,  84;  Frenchmen 
and  Indians  alike  mourn  his  fate,  87 ;  his  memory  perpetuated,  89; 
his  energetic  character,  90;  mention  of  him  in  the  parish  register 
of  Three  Kivers,  ^^,ets€q.;  first  connected  sketch  published  of 
his  life  and  exploration,  100,  et  seq. 

Nicolet,  Madame,  95.  96. 

Nicolet,  Pierre,  89. 

Nicolet,  Thomas,  27. 

ISipissings  (Nipisiriniens),  29,  80,  31,  43,  47. 

Noquets,  56. 

O'Callaghan's  Doc.  Hist  of  New  York,  referred  to,  36;  his  N.  Y.  Col, 
Doc,  cited,  51. 

Ojibwas,     See  Chippewas. 

Ottawas,  50,  52,  54,  65,  66,  73. 

"Ounipeg,"  signification  of,  38. 

Ounipigou.     See  Winnegagoes. 

Oumalouminek  (Oumaominiecs).     See  Menomonees. 

Otchagras  (Ochungarand).     See  Winnebagoes. 

Otchipwes.     See  Chippewas. 

Ouasouarim,  50. 

Oumisagai,  51^  54. 

Outchougai,  50, 

Outaouan.     See  Ottawas. 

Parkman's  Jesuits  in  North  America,  cited.  41,  43,  46,  80;  also,  his  La 
Salle  and  the  Discovery  of  the  Great  West,  38,  58 ;  and  his  Pio- 
neers of  France  tn  the  New  World,  52. 

"  People  of  the  Falls."     See  Chippewas. 

"People  of  the  Sea."     See  Winnebagoes. 

Perot,  Nicolas,  84. 

Petun  Nation,  51,  52. 

Pijart,  Claudius,  96. 

Poncet,  Josephus,  98,  99. 

Poiitgrave,  merchant,  15. 

Pottawattamies,  71. 

Quentin,  Father  Claude,  77,  78,  79,  93. 

Racine,  Claude,  82. 

Racine,  Etienne,  82. 

Raratwaus,     See  Chippewas. 

Rayrabault,  Father  Charles,  83,  86,  91,  97,  101. 

Richelieu,  Cardinal,  21 


INDEX.  113 

Eiver  des  Puans  (River  of  the  Puants— River  St.  Francis).  See  Fox 
river. 

Rollet,  Marie,  82. 

Roquai.     See  Noquets. 

Sacs  (Sauks -Sallki^^ — Sakys),  64. 

Sagard's  Historie  du  Canada.,  cited,  38. 

Sauteurs  (Stiagigrooiie).     See  Chippewas. 

Sault  de  Sainte  Marie,  51. 

Sault  Sainte  Marie,  town  of,  54,  72,  97. 

Savigny  (Chavigiiy),  83,  84,  85,  86,  104. 

Schoolcraft's  Thirty  Years  untli  the  Indian  Tribes^  cited,  59. 

"Sea-Tribe."     See  Winnebagoes. 

Shea's  Catholic  Missio7ifi,  cited,  53;  also,  his  Discovery  and  Explora- 
tio7i  of  the  ^Mississippi  Valley,  38,  45,  59,  G3,  100 ;  and  his  Heii- 
7iepin,  67. 

Shea,  John  Gilmary,  in  W^s.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  73. 

Sillery,  mission  of,  founded,  76. 

Sioux  (Dacotas),  37,  62,  71. 

St.  Croix  Fort,  established,  32, 

Smith's  History  of   Wisconsin,  cited,  27,  38,  73. 

Standing  Hair,  the.     See  Ottawas. 

Suite,  Benjamin,  in  L' Opinion  Publique,  68,  90. 

Suite's  Chronique  Trifluvienne,  cited,  31 ;  also,  his  Melanges  de  Histo- 
rie et  de  Litterature.,  43,  84,  89. 

"The  Men  of  the  Shallow  Cataract."     See  Chippewas. 

Three  Rivers,  town  of,  31,  32,  33,  42,  45,  74,  77,  78,  79,  82,  83,  86,  103. 

Three  Rivers,  parish  churqh  register  of,  44,  45,  93,  et  seq. 

Tobacco  Nation.     See  Petun  Nation. 

Verrazzano,  John,  ix, 

Winnebagoes,  viii,  37,  38,  39,  42,  43,  44,  45,  46,  48,  49,  50,  57,  58,  60, 
61,  62,  63,  64,  71,  72,  74,  77. 

Wisconsin,  derivation  of  the  word,  59 

Wisconsin  river,  59,  61,  68. 

Woolf  river,  35,  66. 

Woodman,  Cyrus,  27. 


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THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


